Never Say Never
by Pennie
Summary: Two people are forced to live with each other. Will they form bonds? Will anything be able to break the bonds that may bind them?
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing. If you sue me you'll only be wasting your time.  
  
A/N: I need you're guys' help to pick the mysterious he in this story  
  
Never Say Never  
  
Chapter One  
  
James returned home feeling only slightly guilty about what he had just done, but it had gotten him out of the bind that he was in. All he had to do was tell his 20 year old daughter what was going on.  
  
"Lorelei get down here right now," he called assuming she was up in her room reading. She was far to much of a book worm for her own good.  
  
"Yes, father," she called back. She despised him, but she didn't have the resources to leave him. He'd spend much of the last 10 years making sure that she would never have the resources she needed to leave.  
  
"Pack you're stuff up," James commanded. She was generally a rather timid child though if you pushed her buttons the right way she did have a temper. Usually she did as she was told.  
  
"We can't be moving again," Lorelei halfheartedly complained. She knew they could, and probably were moving again. She hated it.  
  
"I never said anything about me moving though I don't plan on staying here much longer," James told his daughter. "You are the one who's moving. He'll come by tomorrow to get you."  
  
"Father tell me you didn't," Lorelei said remembering the threat he had made a few days prior.  
  
"I told you I would sell you off if I had to and now I have to," James told her as if he was explaining it to a small child. "Now go pack your stuff so you're ready first thing in the morning."  
  
"Mom would be rolling over in her grave right now. I'm not some possession that can be bought and stole at will," Lorelei told him. She could deal with a lot of things but this wasn't one of them.  
  
"Your mother would have understood that I did what I had to," James said. "You are laving tomorrow and if you have nothing packed then you will go with nothing."  
  
"I will not allow myself to be traded at will like some object," Lorelei said before her father smacked her.  
  
"I am your father you will do as I say."  
  
Lorelei knew there was nothing she could do about this. Her father rarely resorted to physical violence; attacking mentally and emotionally was much more his style.  
  
She sat in her room packing her meager belongings in her suitcase. She wondered who her father sold her to. Who ever he was he had to have been pretty desperate to buy himself a wife. Her father hadn't said that in those words but she wasn't stupid, she knew that was the intention.  
  
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A teeny part of him felt guilty having to buy himself a wife but he knew that eighty years ago arranged marriages weren't all that uncommon. He aw only hoping that James had been right when describing his daughter, because he didn't take kindly to being lied to and tricked.  
  
That night for him had been restless remembering what it had been like being married the first time, though the way James described her Lorelei was nothing like his ex-wife.  
  
The next morning he found himself at James' house. It wasn't spectacular but merely average. He rang the bell and waited hoping that someone would answer quickly.  
  
James opened the door and ushered him into the house. "Where is she?" he asked.  
  
"Lorelei get in here," James called.  
  
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Lorelei recognized that voice and began to mentally panic. She was pretty sure her father hadn't sold her to someone nice (though she hoped that he had) but she hadn't expected a total utter asshole.  
  
'Calm down,' she told herself. 'You don't have to like him only tolerate him. Get of there and be nice.'  
  
"Coming Father," she aid putting the last of the breakfast dishes in the drainer. Maybe where she was going she would have a maid and wouldn't have to do all the things that she'd been accustomed to doing.  
  
When she appeared into the living room she had to admit to herself that though he had some flaws he was pretty good looking.  
  
He examined her or a moment. Her long straight hair was a shade between red and auburn, and she had sapphire eyes. Her small frame had a wonderful hourglass shape. Physically she was all James had said she would be.  
  
"Where are you things?" he demanded roughly.  
  
'Hold your tongue,' she mentally coached. "Upstairs, I'll go get them," she answered as pleasantly as she could. He didn't seem like the type that would appreciate her telling him off in the presence of others.  
  
She mentally cursed him all the way upstairs. Any half way decent man would have offered to help her. Then again anyone her father knew most likely wasn't half way decent.  
  
Brining her suitcase and backpack downstairs she interrupted the men's conversation. Probably about something she shouldn't hear about.  
  
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The two didn't stay much longer. He was ready to be rid of James and Lorelei wasn't thrilled with staying any longer than she had to.  
  
"Don't expect to order me around," Lorelei said when they got in his vehicle. "I will cook and clean because it's expected of me and the state of the house effects what people think about me. However, I refuse to let you control me."  
  
He knew he was in for some interesting times. He hadn't expected her to be quite this independent. "There are few things that I expect aside from cooking and cleaning," he said with a smirk.   
  
Lorelei, though having little experience with men, knew what he meant. She was kind of afraid what was going to happen next.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
There you go send whoever you think he should be to me and find out who I chose. 


	2. Chapter Two

Disclaimer: I don't know, let alone own anyone, and as much as I want that to change I don't see much hope in that happening.  
  
A/N Thanks for all your great responses and ideas for the mystery man. I got suggestions of the Undertaker, John Cena, Batista, and Triple H. If you want to find out who it actually is then you'll have to keep reading. If I told you now it wouldn't be any fun. And this does take place in the present it's just a little hard to tell right now.  
  
Never Say Never Chapter Two  
  
Lorelei was amazed when she saw the house. It was very upscale but not massive. From what she could see the grounds were beautiful, the snow still on the ground making it even more so. She couldn't help but of fall in love with the place even if the man sitting next to her was cold.  
  
In the forty five minutes since their initial conversation he hadn't spoken a word to her. She wanted him to speak one word that wasn't rough or demanding. Right now it seemed like she was asking for some sort of small miracle.  
  
In an amazing act of civility he retrieved her bags from the trunk before leading her up to the house. He still said nothing partly because he didn't want to care more than he had to and a little bit because he didn't want to make more of an ass out of himself than he had to.  
  
Lorelei couldn't hide her amazement any longer. The inside of the house, thought masculine, was every bit as beautiful as the outside had been. The house was almost like a castle and she was the princess, unfortunately she was stuck with the evil prince instead of Prince Charming.  
  
"This is amazing," she said quietly she still wasn't sure of quite how to act around him.  
  
"I'll show you around," he said gruffly with pride evident in his voice. If she owned this place she would be proud too.  
  
She was awestruck by the house. The architecture was amazing; she'd never seen anything like it before. The first stop aside from the living room was the kitchen. She was amazed by the room. She loved to cook almost as much as she loved to read.  
  
Upstairs there was a small library and he couldn't help but notice her face light up. "Don't spend to much time in here," he warned. She barely heard him.  
  
They went through the rest of the house before returning to the kitchen. "When are we getting married? I know its part of the deal; you said so yourself," Lorelei asked bluntly.  
  
"We're going to go to the justice of the peace tomorrow," he said noticing her face fall.  
  
Even if she didn't get to chose who the groom was, she wanted to be able to plan her own wedding. It was every little girl's dream and hers was no different. She figured arguing with him would be totally pointless. She still couldn't believe how fast this was all happening. It wasn't like she was going to run away, there wasn't anywhere to run.  
  
He left her to explore the house further on her own. He went to his office to attend to business and figure out how to deal with the young woman. She was unlike any that he had ever had to face. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
Lorelei walked thorough the amazing house noting the changes that she would like to make though she doubted Paul would let her change anything. She loved the houses already.  
  
She wasn't sure about what it would be like being alone in the house. They were pretty far out in the middle of nowhere, and she wasn't sure about being alone. She knew that would happen quite frequently though. From what she saw of him on the television he was quite passionate about what he did.  
  
It didn't take her long to settle herself in the library with a book she had never read before. She opened the book and was quickly lost in her own little world. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
When Paul settled in his office the first thing he did was check his email. He found a few unread messages from his mother and sister. After replying to those he made a few calls. None of the people he was closest tow knew about Lorelei, and he would rather keep that he's getting married again away from common knowledge.  
  
After he finished on the phone he set out to make sure all his bills were paid and all the other stuff that had been neglected for the last couple of weeks. When he finished he went to his home gym. He was quite obsessive about keeping his body in shape. He had to admit to himself that he was pretty obsessive about a lot of things. That was why so many people thought he was overly controlling.  
  
An hour and a half or so later feeling the tension in his muscles and the sweat on his body he decided it was time to take as shower.  
  
Upon walking past the open library door he couldn't help but to look in. He saw the beautiful woman curled up in a large chair with a book on her lap. 'Stop,' he told himself before his thoughts could go any further.  
  
He walked past continuing to his desired destination, the shower - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
Lorelei was reading when she noticed someone stop, but ignored him. If he wanted something he was perfectly capable of asking. When she noticed the figure pass the room she wet back to completely losing herself in the fantasy world of her book.  
  
She didn't know how long she'd been reading or what was going on until a voice pulled her out of o her little world. "I've got some friends downstairs I would like you to meet," he said.  
  
She was surprised. It was still a command, but his voice had lost the gruff tone that it had had when he'd previously spoken to her. Lorelei rolled her eyes before marking her spot in the book.  
  
"Don't roll your eyes, it's not ladylike," he told her.  
  
"Don't leave your guests waiting its not polite," Lorelei shot back. "Don't start. You can't boss me around."  
  
He glared at her. "Come on," he commanded.  
  
"I'm not your servant," Lorelei reminded him. She knew this was going to be difficult. "I'm your fiancée."  
  
It was his turn to roll his eyes he was going to go crazy at this rate. He could tell the next few weeks, if not longer, were going to be hell.  
  
They couple got downstairs and Lorelei greeted the guest as warmly as she could manage and did her best to not look like she hated the person in front of her.  
  
He quickly took them into the living room, but Lorelei decided not to follow. She wanted to see what was in the kitchen so she could figure out what was going to be for supper than night.  
  
It was the first time she'd actually looked through the cupboards and she found some canned vegetables, something she made a mental note not to buy anymore, and some beef broth. She decided to make stew. Sure it wasn't gourmet but he'd have to live with it.  
  
"Is anyone staying for supper?" Lorelei asked with a smirk. She knew it would bother him that she was the one who asked.  
  
Two of the three men took her up on her offer and she just got the expected glare from Paul.  
  
There we go now we know who Mr. Mystery man is and since you read please review. 


	3. Chapter Three

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone. I did create Lorelei.  
  
A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews. I've gotten more reviews for the first two chapters of this story than I have for the first two chapters of any of my previous stories. Anyhow if you have a question just ask and I'll answer it as best I can without giving things away. On with the story.  
  
Never Say Never Chapter Three  
  
The next morning Lorelei was awake at the crack of dawn. Even though she knew today was supposed to be happy, she dreaded it. She felt like she was losing the last little bit of independence she had, and Paul hadn't helped her shake the feeling at all.  
  
She quickly gathered her thoughts and went downstairs to make breakfast.  
  
She began to think about the previous evening. Randy and Dave were actually pretty cool, arrogant at times, but they didn't spend all evening glaring at her and spoke to her civilly, even nicely. She couldn't really understand why they would associate with someone like Paul. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
Paul woke up to the smell of bacon frying in his kitchen. He hadn't woken up to the smell of food in a long time, probably since he moved out. Part of him wanted to go back to sleep, but he stomach was demanding that he get up, and eventually won the internal battle.  
  
He pulled on a pair of track pants and headed downstairs. He entered the kitchen to see a sight that any other man would have loved but he couldn't. Sure she seemed sweet enough and was beautiful but he wasn't going to let anyone in marriage or not.  
  
'At least she isn't like Stephanie,' he thought. His ex-wife had been a pleasant person as long as you always agreed with her, let her have her way, and manipulate you.  
  
"Morning," Paul said. He sounded almost civil much to Lorelei's surprise.  
  
"Morning," Lorelei responded in a similar tone.  
  
Breakfast was awkward. Neither person wanted to anger the other seeing as the justice of the peace had to believe that they were entering their eminent marriage willingly.  
  
"What am I supposed to do here alone while you're gone?" Lorelei finally asked remembering how far from the nearest little town they were.  
  
Paul wasn't sure how he wanted to answer that. He had thought about it though. He wasn't thrilled with the idea of her traveling with him, but was equally as disturbed about her saying here alone without anyone else around. He would feel bad if something did happen while he wasn't there. He wasn't as heartless as he let show. "I don't know I guess you could travel with me," he said.  
  
Lorelei could hear the reluctance in his voice when he said that. She wanted to scream at him for not giving a damn about her, but she had to admit that honestly she didn't really give a damn about him. She wanted to protest but quickly realized that it was either go with what he said or be isolated here, so she opted for silence.  
  
Paul continued eating his breakfast in silence. When he finished he put his plate and silverware in the sink. "I'll be in my office," he said grabbing his coffee mug and heading out of the kitchen.  
  
Lorelei quickly washed up the few dishes, and went to grab her journal before heading to the library. When she arrived there she sat again curled up in the same chair, and began to pour her feelings of the last few days onto the paper.  
  
She was hoping to organize her thoughts and get some of them out of her head before she had to profess that he would love and honor him forever even of the thought made her feel like screaming. She wished that she could just scream but he was just down the hallway.  
  
In her journal she made a list of changes she would like to make to the house also. Knowing that if she traveled with him she wouldn't be home a lot didn't deter her. It was a way to focus on something that she might be able to control. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
Paul spent much of the little bit of free time in his office. He was still contemplating going back to sleep, but now that he had gotten up it would probably be wiser to stay up.  
  
He did whatever he could to take his mind off his upcoming nuptials, which wasn't much. "Why did you even let him talk you into this to begin with?" he asked himself out loud. He didn't really a have a good answer.  
  
At the time it all seemed so easy. Get a docile little wife who would cook for him and clean up and just be what housewives were 50 years ago. James had also let him believe that Lorelei would be that docile little woman. Unfortunately he got a little spitfire instead. Sure she knew when to act all nice, but when they were alone she was either holed up in the library, or yelling at him. He had yet to decide which he preferred.  
  
"You sound jealous of a room," he told himself before laughing a bit. He was almost positive that she was just acting the way she was because of the way he acted. She proved that she was perfectly capable of getting along with people at supper the previous night when she got along quite will with Dave and Randy.  
  
He couldn't get his mind off the young woman that was down the hall. He berated himself for suggesting that she come with him on the road. It was probably the stupidest thing he could have done. 'But you couldn't have let her stay here alone,' the little voice in his head that was the closest thing he had to a conscience told him. Damn the irritable thing.  
  
Before he knew it, it was time to go get shower and get ready to leave. 'My last moments as a single man,' he thought. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
Lorelei showered, changed, did her hair and put on a touch of makeup before going downstairs to wait for Paul. On her way down she thought of another thing to add to her mental list of things to get from him. She needed a set of keys to a vehicle and the house.  
  
She loved the grand staircase and descending it made her feel more like a princess than anything in the house. She saw him at the bottom of the steps waiting in the entry way and had to admit he looked handsome. He had black dress pants, a green button dress shirt and sports jacket on. 'Green is definitely his color,' she told herself.  
  
He smiled when he saw her. Se had a sleeveless ivory dress with little pale pink roses printed on the fabric. Denying she was beautiful would have been lying. He didn't say a word though. He didn't want to ruin the almost moment they were having.  
  
The car ride was again filled with that awkward silence that breakfast had contained. Lorelei determined to think happy thoughts about how she'd never have to struggle for money and she'd be able to read to her heart's content but it didn't' help to make her feel any happier about the situation.  
  
Paul remained quite on the other had because he didn't want to upset her. She was much more unpredictable than he liked when she was thinking rationally, and knew he had yet to see her truly upset though he was sure he was working his way there.  
  
When they were almost there Lorelei wanted to tell him that just because she was marring him didn't make him her property but she didn't want to start a fight right before they were to put on the biggest show of their lives.  
  
_______________________________________________________________________ Well there you go. I wrote now you review. 


	4. Chapter Four

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you are remotely familiar with. I did however create Lorelei.  
  
Never Say Never Chapter Four  
  
The ceremony had been short and sweet. It really helped because Lorelei was nervous about what was to come later in the evening. There was no way of avoiding it.  
  
Through the car ride back to the house she tried to bite her tongue. She was stuck with him and might as well attempt to be civil with him even if hadn't given her much to like about him.  
  
Paul was still trying to comprehend what was going on. Sure he'd agreed to all this days ago but he was just now realizing how final the situation was. He couldn't back out now, not that he was sure that he even wanted to. He'd think that he got everything sorted out then he'd have a thought that totally messed everything up again like that.  
  
"So when do we start traveling?" Lorelei asked mostly to break the uncomfortable silence. This silence had been more uncomfortable then the previous two.  
  
"I've got two weeks off, so after that," Paul answered. He wasn't really sure what to say for probably one of the first times in his life. They were little more than strangers though they were married.  
  
Lorelei couldn't help but be excited. When she was a little girl the house only had one TV and her father had been firmly in control of that like he was everything else. She grew up watching wrestling and was excited to be meeting some of her favorites since she was a little girl.  
  
Paul saw her eyes light up and want to scream. He didn't mind seeing her happy; he was actually beginning to enjoy it in fact. Unfortunately he was at times insanely possessive, so it was already eating him alive knowing that she was going to meet the other guys. It didn't matter at all that she didn't like him; all that mattered was that she was his.  
  
"There are some things that I could really use," Lorelei started cautiously, "like a set of keys for the house and a vehicle."  
  
Paul knew he was going to have to give her the house keys and keys for a vehicle along with at least a bank card. "Yeah I'll get copies of them for you tomorrow," Paul said.  
  
"I know you're probably going to hate me for suggesting this but I can think of a few things to do to highlight the houses architecture and add a bit of a feminine touch," Lorelei said tentatively.  
  
Paul couldn't believe how tentative she sounded. Every other time she'd spoken to him she'd sounded confident and in control, but now she sounded more like a broken child. "Whatever it can all be changed," Paul said.  
  
He decided that for once he would go with it and actually see what happens. He hated knowing not everything, but he would have to give up some control eventually. They continued on talking about a lot of neutral subjects.  
  
"So do you have any siblings?" Lorelei asked feeling a little braver.  
  
"Yeah, an older sister Lynn. She's married with two kids," Paul said. "What about you?"  
  
"No, I always wanted to have brothers or sisters, but my dad only wanted one child and what he wanted always went," Lorelei said as the pulled up to the house.  
  
That explained why she had so many different tones and didn't ant to be controlled by anyone. "You know we just had our first civil conversation?" Paul asked.  
  
"Most people in the civil world manage civil conversations," Lorelei pointed out.  
  
Paul couldn't argue that fact, but seeing the spark in her eyes mad him think about later. It didn't take love to consummate a marriage, though it did help, but a lot of passion would do the same thing. "How about we have an early supper and call it a night?"  
  
"Whatever you say," Lorelei said heading for the kitchen. She wasn't sure what to make for supper. She was debating whether or not to tell him how inexperienced she was.  
  
'The more time you take the better,' she told herself. She wanted her first time to be special, like all girls but like everything else recently it was going to be anything but special.  
  
Supper was spaghetti that night. Lorelei stayed silent mostly lost in her own thoughts. Silence was beginning to be common place between her and Paul though this one was more comfortable than any of the previous ones. That wasn't really saying much though considering how awkward and uncomfortable the previous ones had been.  
  
Lorelei did up the few dishes that had accumulated from the meal. She tried not to let her mind wander because when it did it had been recently drifting to Paul. She didn't really like him but he was pretty hot (even though his nose was huge). Letting her mind wander at the moment was not a good thing.  
  
She headed upstairs when she finished. She entered the master bedroom for one of the first times. She'd seen it on the tour Paul gave but spent the last twenty four hours avoiding it like the plague.  
  
The room like the rest of the house the room was masculine, but she found herself generally liking the deep blues and greens that filled the room.  
  
When Paul wasn't already in there she assumed that he was in his office waiting for her to finish the work in the kitchen. She looked around to find her stuff and noted some of it missing or forgotten. She made a mental list of items to get tomorrow.  
  
When she couldn't find her pajamas she opted for grabbing one of Paul's tee- shirt before entering the master bathroom for a quick shower.  
  
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Paul was in his office waiting for Lorelei to finish the work that he knew she was going to do in the kitchen. When he returned to the master bedroom he heard the shower running and knew it had to be Lorelei.  
  
It took all his will power but he resisted the urge to go in there and surprise her. Something told him she wouldn't appreciate that, and he didn't want to get on her bad side, at least not yet.  
  
"You're going to have to keep yourself in check," he verbally reminded himself. She hadn't admitted and probably wouldn't admit something that he could already tell by observing her, she didn't have a lot of experience with me, and that wasn't bothering him as much as he thought it would.  
  
He was amazed when she came out in one of his Evolution tee-shirts. That was something he didn't expect as Stephanie had her lacy nightgowns and such. He knew she was beautiful but there was something about seeing her in his tee-shirt that made her look even more so.  
  
As she walked closer to him he pulled her into a kiss. A kiss that he wasn't sure he was physically able to break.  
  
Lorelei's first instinct when Paul kissed her was to push away, but before her brain got the message she was caught up in the passion he was feeling.  
  
Before she knew what she was doing she was moving closer and giving him access to her mouth, which he readily accepted. Her instincts were taking over much quicker than she thought they would.  
  
Her brain was screaming to stop as one of Paul's hands went up the back of her shirt, but her body refused to acknowledge the message.  
  
Quickly the make out session moved to the bed and it seemed like no time before things kept going further and further.  
  
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Paul didn't hold her after the made love, if they could call it that, and honestly Lorelei didn't expect him to. She would have been surprised if he had held her seeing as she was unsure if she wanted that. It would have helped her emotions along to more than civility or friendship and she wasn't sure she wanted that.  
  
Paul knew he should hold her. Hell he wanted nothing more than to hold her but that would be admitting he cared and that wasn't going to happen any time soon  
  
Look it's another chapter. Please, review. 


	5. Chpater Five

Disclaimer: As always I don't own anything, I did create Lorelei though, nor am I making any money from this.  
  
Never Say Never  
  
Chapter Five  
  
Lorelei woke up the next morning and watched Paul for a moment before retrieving the tee-shirt that had been discarded the night before. She then proceeded to go downstairs to make breakfast.  
  
She didn't know why she was making a big breakfast for just the two of them, but she just did as she had done the previous morning only making chocolate chip pancakes, scrambled eggs, and ham.  
  
Paul came downstairs just as she was finishing. "I have a meeting this afternoon. I probably won't be back until tomorrow," Paul told her as Lorelei put a plate in front of him.  
  
"Somehow I think I can manage twelve hours on my own," Lorelei said. "I'm not completely helpless."  
  
"So I've been told," he said.  
  
The rest of the meal was mostly silent. Lorelei was trying to figure out approximately how much time it would he to do the bit of house work she needed.  
  
Paul was again looking at her thinking his tee-shirt never looked that good. This would have to become an every day occurrence at least when they were at home.  
  
Paul got in the shower first seeing as he had to leave shortly for his meeting in Stamford. He wasn't looking forward to the long car ride.  
  
Lorelei went to the office that housed the only computer in the place. She connected to the internet and logged into Yahoo to check her Email. She found several new e-mails.  
  
They were all from her friends as her father didn't know that she had an e- mail address. She looked through them and first read the most interesting one from her friend Shawn (her father had attempted to sell her to him, but instead she ended up with one of her best friends). She read:  
  
Hey girl, What's up? Not anything out of the ordinary here. Cam's birthday sis next month. I'll send you pics.  
  
Did your dad finally succeed in selling you off. J/k. I hope he's not giving you to many problems. All you have to do is say the word darling and I'll kick his ass. TTYL.  
  
Hugs, Shawn  
  
Lorelei couldn't help but to smile. She knew she had to reply to him. She quickly began typing.  
  
Shawn, I can't wait to see the pics of Cam. Be sure to e-mail them not snail mail them. I can't believe you might get a title shot at Mania. (See I watch.)  
  
Don't worry about having to kick my dad's ass. I won't be having to worry about him for a while. I got married; trust me it's better than staying with him. I'll tell you who next time I see you in a couple weeks. I don't want to worry to much, so I'll only tell you, you know him.  
  
See ya soon, Lori  
  
She quickly read and responded to her other e-mails assuring her friends that she was still alive and well. She briefly surfed the Web before disconnecting.  
  
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Paul showered and dressed then went to find Lorelei. His first stop was the library, but amazingly she wasn't there. He continued on noticing the light on in his office.  
  
He looked in and she was just disconnecting form the internet. He made a mental note to get her a lap top and a cell phone for that matter.  
  
"Oh hi," Lorelei said almost running into him.  
  
Paul let out a smirk that she could almost mistake as a smile. "I've got something for you," he told her.  
  
She took what was in his had and looked at it. There was a Key, presumably to the house and a credit card.  
  
"Buy yourself something nice. There's keys to the cars in the kitchen by the door out to the garage. You can take whichever one you like," Paul told her. He needed the upcoming hours away to talk himself out of the warm feelings he was feeling for the woman in front of him.  
  
Lorelei had to resist the strong urge to hug him but only could for a few moments. After that she was hugging him more happy than she could have imagined.  
  
The next thing Paul knew she was wrapping her arms around him. He wasn't sure what to do. It seemed like the only time Steph had hugged him was when she wanted something.  
  
He could tell that Lorelei didn't want anything but he still couldn't hug her back. He stood there uncomfortably for a moment before she released him from her grasp.  
  
"I've got a few things to do in the office before I leave," Paul said excusing himself from the rather uncomfortable situation.  
  
"Just tell me before you leave," Lorelei said heading to the bedroom. She needed to get a shower and do some housework. Then she was going to have to go shopping.  
  
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Paul went into his office and proceeded to do the things Lorelei had done only moments before. He then called to reconfirm the time of his meeting.  
  
He hated leaving. He was supposed to have time of and he and his ex-father- in-law had never exactly seen eye to eye on anything.  
  
After hanging out in his office for a little bit longer he told Lorelei he had to leave.  
  
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Lorelei spend much of the afternoon shopping. She bought some things for the house, and some of the things that she had noted missing the night before She thought that for once it was nice that she didn't have to pay any attention to the price of things she bought.  
  
She literally spent several hours shopping. She while she was out she decided that she would also get herself a cell phone then she wouldn't have to give out the home number to her friends when she wouldn't be there more than half the time anyway.  
  
When she got back to the house for the first time she actually felt alone in the big house. She wasn't exactly sure what to do with herself so after quickly preparing herself a quick meal of the left over stew she went and took a long, luxurious bubble bath.  
  
That night was the first time she realized how emotionally draining the last week had been for her. That night she slept better than she had in a long time.  
  
The next morning she ate breakfast, wrote Paul a note, and then went to find all the stuff that she hadn't had the time or the energy to find the night before and order some new draperies for the living room.  
  
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Paul smiled for the first time in a long time when he saw Lorelei's elegant hand writing on the note that she had left him. Then he thought it might just be that she had the curtsey to let him know where she was going. That soothed his ego that she'd honestly bruised a little.  
  
He had to admit even if it was only to himself that he couldn't wait for her to get back.  
  
________________________________________________________________________ There you go. Please review. 


	6. Chapter Six

Disclaimer: Last time I checked my last name wasn't McMahon so I don't own anything that you are familiar with. I'm also a poor college student so trying to dispute that fact would be pointless.  
  
Never Say Never  
  
Chapter Six  
  
This morning Lorelei and Paul were going back on the road. The last two weeks the pair had become a bit more peaceful. They could normally be civil around each other and though they couldn't admit it to anyone except themselves they were actually beginning to enjoy each other's company.  
  
Paul almost had to laugh at his wife's inability to sit still. There were so many things about her that made him happy. She was so innocent and full of energy that it amazed him.  
  
Lorelei was so excited about being able to see Shawn again. They rarely ever got to talk in person, but when they did it was always amusing. "Paul, you're probably not going to like this but I'm going to say it anyway," Lorelei told him. "I am good friends with Shawn Hickenbottom. I'm probably going to be come friends with some of the other guys backstage too."  
  
She didn't want there to be any surprises in their already fragile relationship. She was going to be honest with him and hoped that he would do the same for her. She thought he would but then again he was full of surprises. The tenderness and passion that he showed at times was one of those surprises.  
  
That one shocked Paul. Where the hell would she meet someone like Shawn? He asked just that.  
  
"You don't think that you were the first person my father tried to sell me too?" Lorelei asked. "He tried to sell me to Shawn like four years ago, right after he met Becca, but I was only sixteen, and he really liked Becca. There were a couple business men he tried to sell me to also, but they realized what a creep he was before things were final."  
  
Lorelei was almost laughing at him. She couldn't believe that someone as smart as he was he didn't see right through all that creepiness that her father was. He always seemed that he was a pretty good judge of people's motives.  
  
"Great thanks for making me sound desperate," Paul said.  
  
"Hey you've said it yourself the man is creepy. I don't like him and I'm his daughter, it's like an unspoken rule that I have to like him," Lorelei said.  
  
"I can't believe that he would try to sell you that many times. I mean it's low try it once but four different times."  
  
"I would say something, but out of fairness I'm not going to," Lorelei said barley able to keep her comment to herself. She knew she had to though, because he wouldn't take it to nicely.  
  
He tried to get it out of her for a little while but when she rested her head on his shoulder he stopped. He was beginning to enjoy the feeling of her near him, and hadn't been able to talk himself out of it. It was annoying too because it caused him to start arguing with himself and some say that is one of the first signs of insanity.  
  
The rest of the plane ride went smoothly. Paul had been awake for the whole boring thing while Lorelei slept most of the way. He had to wake her up when the plane landed.  
  
About twenty minutes later the pair arrived at the arena. They were some of the first people there. "I'm going to go find Shawn so he doesn't have to kill you when he sees us together," Lorelei told Paul.  
  
"Wonderful," Paul said sarcastically letting go of her hand. 'Wait a second,' he told himself, 'when did I grab her hand?'  
  
Lorelei went off to explore a little bit and try to find Shawn. She knew she'd done the right thing when she hadn't told him yet, because just like on TV he really didn't like Paul. It had been rather annoying though listening to him trying to get it out of her.  
  
It only took her about five minutes to find him. She came up behind him and covered his eyes. "Hey stranger," she said.  
  
"Lori, what are you doing here?" Shawn asked.  
  
"I told you I'd see you in a couple of weeks. Here I am," she said with a flourish.  
  
Shawn looked at her. When she made the big flourish with her hands he noticed the wedding band, but it didn't gave away anything about who might have placed it on her finger. "Okay, then who did you marry since the last time I saw you?"  
  
"This says between us and you will not hurt anyone when I tell you," Lorelei told him. She wasn't going to take nicely to him attempting to roughing up her husband.  
  
"Fine," Shawn said impatiently, "just tell me."  
  
"Okay, I married Paul," Lorelei told him. She saw his ears turn red and the steam practically pour out of them. If she didn't know how seriously he despised Paul then she wouldn't have been able to suppress laughter. She was barely able to do it knowing that.  
  
"You can't be serious," Shawn said. "You married that bastard."  
  
"It's not like I had a lot of choice. He's really not that bad anyway," Lorelei told him. "Let's grab some food and talk."  
  
Shawn agreed under much protest. If she didn't want him to rough Paul up then Paul seeing the two of them together probably wouldn't be the wisest thing. She told him that Paul knew they were friends but that didn't help to much.  
  
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Paul went into the Evolution locker room in a pretty bad mood. He wasn't happy that his wife was friends with someone he despised with all his being. He wanted her here. Probably another result of his controlling nature. He had to be in charge.  
  
"I thought Lorelei was coming," Ric said seeing his companion in a foul mood.  
  
"She's here. She's talking to the Show Stopper himself," Paul said his voice dripping with sarcasm when he used Shawn's nickname.  
  
"How the hell does she know him?" Ric asked.  
  
"Her creepy father tried to get him to marry her like for years ago. They've been friends ever since," Paul said. He hated that Shawn was closer to his wife than he was. He wanted to find him and beat the hell out of him, but didn't want to risk the wrath of his wife.  
  
"Relax man. You have her. She wouldn't do anything like the things that Stephanie did. Lorelei's got more class in her little finger than Stephanie does in her whole being," Ric told the younger man.  
  
Little did they know there was someone lurking outside their locker room, listening to their conversation. She was getting more and more angry at every word that was being spoken. She was going to get what she wanted by any means necessary.  
  
___________________________________________________________________________  
  
There you go, pretty please review. 


	7. Chapter Seven

Disclaimer: I don't own anything so don't confuse me with someone who does.  
  
Never Say Never  
  
Chapter Seven  
  
Stephanie stood outside Paul's locker room shocked. She hadn't known that he had gotten married again. This was going to be good. She'd seen the woman running around earlier, and messing up this marriage was going to be easier than she ever would have expected.  
  
She also made a mental note to herself to get Ric after she got her husband back. She knew she had class, but she also had the power to get what she wanted.  
  
She knocked on the door. She had a million excuses that she would need to see him. She was one of the head writers for the WWE.  
  
"What the hell do you want?" Paul said seeing her at the door.  
  
"I just wanted to remind you of the meeting coming up," Stephanie told him sweetly. "I thought that you might be interested to know who we're adding to Evolution."  
  
Paul sighed. The debate over a female being added to Evolution had been going on for months. No one except the writers thought it would be a good idea. Even the list of potential female members thought it would be stupid, but Stephanie seemed to be leading the pack of the people who thought it would be a good idea. The woman infuriated him to no end sometimes.  
  
"Stephanie how many times to I do I have to tell you if you put a female in Evolution it will kill all that it stands for. It's a guys club; it's for the most dominant forces in wrestling today, and you haven't written a dominant female. The closest thing you have is Trish Stratus or Lita, and neither of them are Evolution quality," Paul reminded her. She created Evolution and now she was working on destroying it. He knew what he was talking about, and he knew she knew only she was too stubborn to listen.  
  
"Paul you guys are the only ones that think that Evolution shouldn't have a female member," Stephanie told him.  
  
"No, I remember your brother saying it was a crazy idea, and all the other superstars have said the idea was whack," Paul told her. "If there's a female member of Evolution then you can count me out."  
  
"Paul it's your storyline. The one I created just for you. You can't be out," Stephanie told him. "You will go where I write you to be."  
  
"Steph, if you put a female in Evolution and don't take me out of it then I'll quit with this belt around my waist and you won't even have a world champion, that would be one of the worst decisions you can make," Paul said. There were times he swore he knew more about business than she did.  
  
"If you quit I'll sue your ass for breach of contract," Stephanie threatened.  
  
"Stephie, Stephie, you don't have the power to do that without you're fathers backing and he'll see things my way. He always does," Paul told her. He wanted out of this, but the end didn't look like it was going to be anywhere near.  
  
"Just be at the meeting," Stephanie demanded before making her ever dramatic exit.  
  
"God help me," Paul said when he reentered his locker room. Ric just smiled at him.  
  
Randy entered the locker room shortly after. "Where's your better half?" he asked his friend. He knew Paul would probably kill him but it was worth it. He got so much flack for being the youngest.  
  
"Looking around and I probably should go find her seeing as Stephanie seems to be on one of her crazy warpaths right about now," Paul said making his exit.  
  
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Lorelei had just finished catching up with Shawn and was on her way back to the Evolution locker room. The size of this building was kind of intimidating for her. Shawn had offered to walk with he back, but seeing as he would probably end up seeing Paul it wasn't a very good idea.  
  
She literally ran into Chris Irvine, and he was nicer than he seemed on TV. She learned pretty quickly though that unless asked just saying she was Lorelei was probably one of the better options. The last name seemed to intimidate people and she knew why.  
  
She continued on her way until she was stopped by none other than Stephanie McMahon herself. She knew that couldn't be good. From the little Paul talked about her, Lorelei knew that Stephanie was a bitch. There was no denying that fact.  
  
"I think you have something I want," Stephanie said.  
  
"From what I understand he doesn't want you so back off," Lorelei told her. She now knew why Paul didn't want to talk about the woman standing in front of him.  
  
"I'm a McMahon and you are nothing," Stephanie told her. "I always get what I want."  
  
"You may be a McMahon but one thing you'll never have is class. You can take someone's heart out and rip it to shreds and then want him to play along like nothing happened. Unfortunately we live in the real world where actions have consequences despite what you may have learned growing up," Lorelei told her. She was already sick of this game.  
  
"It takes a lot of class to be bought and sold like an object," Stephanie retorted.  
  
"At least I deal with the consequences of my actions. I was the one bought not doing the buying therefore you're argument is totally stupid. At least I don't sell myself all for the product. You lied about being pregnant on national television. If that's not totally tactless and classless, I don't know what is," Lorelei told her. She knew she shouldn't have let it slip she knew that, that wasn't only part of the story line, but Stephanie got under her skin so badly.  
  
"You're a little whore talking to me about integrity," Stephanie screeched.  
  
"I never mentioned integrity, but come to think of it that's another thing that I have that you don't," Lorelei said calmly. "I don't lie to people. It's usually easier that way."  
  
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Paul was walking down the hallway and he could hear Stephanie before he could see her. He knew that couldn't be a good thing. Stephanie had a foul temper and if she ran into Stephanie Lorelei wouldn't take it from her. He heard Stephanie again and was trying to see who she was arguing with but a little crowd had formed around her and whoever was at the receiving end of her wrath. As she said the word whore he found she was speaking to his wife.  
  
He had to give his wife credit. The woman was smart. She didn't stoop to her name calling she just used facts against the Billon Dollar Princess. The thing that he was afraid of was that Stephanie would hit his wife. He was behind Lorelei's back at this point and unless things got physical he would let her fight her own battles. It was probably better for his health that way. It didn't mean that he wasn't pissed that Stephanie was hurling insults at his wife he just had to learn to control his temper.  
  
He saw the fire in Stephanie's eyes. He knew that no good was going to come of this.  
  
"I can have your skanky little ass thrown out of this arena," Stephanie told Lorelei.  
  
"But you wouldn't. You want to keep your talent happy and I know for a fact that if you throw me out of the arena some of your main draws will revolt against you. Though I'm surprised they haven't already," Lorelei said. She hated that Stephanie was underestimating her intelligence.  
  
All Paul could do was watch in slow motion as Stephanie slapped his wife. Lorelei thought was more pissed than hurt and punched Stephanie hard right in her jaw. "Don't ever touch me again," Lorelei snarled.  
  
Paul was shocked by the tone he heard from his wife. She'd been vicious before, but never that vicious.  
  
Lorelei turned around and ran right into Paul. She looked a little embarrassed. "I'm so sorry you had to see that," she whispered.  
  
"It's okay. It was about time that someone stood up to her," Paul said as the other people around them started to dissipate.  
  
"Thank you for letting me fight my own battle," Lorelei told him. She could never tell him how much she appreciated being able to stand up fore herself instead of someone standing up for her.  
  
"You did way more than I could ever. Despite what they think I would never physically hurt a woman," Paul said.  
  
"I know," Lorelei said giving him a hug, and for the first time it was returned.  
  
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Interesting don't you think? Well please review. 


	8. Chapter Eight

Disclaimer: My calls to Vince have gone unanswered, meaning I don't own anyone you are familiar with. Last time I checked I wasn't making any money from this either  
  
Never Say Never  
  
Chapter Eight  
  
It was the day after Wrestlemania and Lorelei was getting a kick out of watching Paul. He'd actually hurt his shoulder the night before, but he refused to let her help him. He was trying to button up his shirt one handed. "How come these damned things are so much easier to unbutton?" Paul asked frustrated.  
  
"If you'd let me help then it wouldn't take this long," Lorelei told him. She was trying hard not to laugh at him but if this kept up she wasn't going to succeed.  
  
"If you help we'll never get out of here," Paul said.  
  
"Hey, it's not my mind that's in the gutter. We have to be to the arena in forty five minutes and we get McDonalds today," Lorelei told him. He was usually pretty good about eating healthy, so McDonalds was generally a no-no.  
  
"You and junk food. I swear I've found more junk food around the house since we got married than I've ever had," Paul said laughing.  
  
"I'm not that bad. It's just a little bit of chocolate," Lorelei said, "and Starburst jelly beans."  
  
"And a million other things," Paul said.  
  
"Pringles are so not junk food, neither are peanut butter crackers," Lorelei countered as she began laughing at the absurdity of the conversation. The laughter was contagious, and Paul began to laugh also. Lorelei decided at that moment she was going to hear him laugh a lot more. "Are you going to let me help you or not?" Lorelei asked.  
  
"No," Paul replied stubbornly.  
  
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Thirty five minutes later Paul and Lorelei walked to the arena with McDonalds in their hands. Randy was the first to see them and just about laughed. He'd never seen Paul eat McDonald's. "Dude how'd you get that?" he asked.  
  
"I'm not a dude. I told him I was going to get some so he did too," Lorelei said.  
  
They hung out in the locker room since there wasn't much else to do. Lorelei also didn't care to much for the idea of running into Stephanie again. She did kind of want to see her handy work. 'Steph's probably been able to cover it up already,' she told herself with a touch of disappointment. She wished she would have been able to see what went on.  
  
"To bad you missed what you did to Steph," Ric said. "I already saw her and make up covered whatever was left of the bruise."  
  
"Yeah, Paul told me about it. She deserved it though. She hit me first," Lorelei said. "I bet I could take her in a real fight any day."  
  
"Paul you have no idea what you've got yourself into do you?" Dave asked. The woman standing in front of him was amazing. She was the right balance for Paul.  
  
"I'll never know what I got into. When are you going to bring Angie on the road again?" Paul asked.  
  
"I don't know, but I think your wife will be a bad influence on her when she does," Dave said laughing.  
  
"Hey, I'm not a bad influence on anyone. I can see I'm not appreciated her so I'm gonna go find Shawn and see if he has those pictures of Cam," Lorelei said. She gave Paul a little kiss before exiting the locker room.  
  
"You really like her don't you?" Ric asked seeing the look on the younger man's face.  
  
"I don't know. I mean I barely know her, but I like her more than I ever did Stephanie. Seeing her stand up for herself the way she did last week, and seeing her the first time you met her was like seeing to different people," Paul said. "She's so confusing. This morning she had be laughing over something as stupid as what was and wasn't considered junk food."  
  
"Face it, there's something about her that you like. You stayed with Stephanie as long as you did because you had power. With Lorelei you don't have power. I doubt she lets you control her. You're staying with her because there is something more," Ric said.  
  
Ric's thoughts put a new prospective on it for Paul. In a way he was right. He wouldn't admit it, but he was. There was something more attractive about Lorelei than the physical. There was something that was keeping his interest longer than most women had.  
  
"Anyway we only have an interview tonight right?" Paul asked changing the subject.  
  
"You only have an interview, by the way how's your shoulder?" Ric asked.  
  
"It hurts like hell," Paul said. "You know how hart it is to button buttons with only one hand?"  
  
Ric only laughed at him before telling him about the match that the rest of Evolution had with Shawn and Chris.  
  
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It didn't take Lorelei long to find Shawn. It seemed that he was pretty easy to find. Well most of the time.  
  
He was talking about his match tonight. She couldn't help but to sneak up behind him and unsuccessfully try to scare him.  
  
"Lori, what are you doing here?" Shawn asked.  
  
"Shawn how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?" Lorelei asked. "It's not like I know a lot of other people to hang around with, and you promised me pictures of Cam."  
  
"I don't have any with me right now. I need to introduce you to some new people so that everyone doesn't think I have acquired a stalker," Shawn teased.  
  
"You're busy, I'll let you get back to going over your match, I'm presuming," Lorelei said. "I think I might be able to find the diva's locker room and hopefully find out some embarrassing stories."  
  
Lorelei couldn't help but laugh. She did let him get back to his conversation and she set out to find the diva's locker room. Paul would probably like it better if she at least hung out with some of the girls anyway. She wasn't going to always hang out with them, but some battles just didn't need to be fought. It was more picking and choosing.  
  
She knocked on the door hoping that someone like maybe Lita aka Amy would answer. She'd met the redheaded diva once last week while hanging out with Shawn.  
  
Sure enough Amy did answer the door. "I know you. You were hanging out with Shawn last week weren't you?" Amy asked.  
  
"Yeah. I thought I'd be around a lot so I might as well meet some of the girls," Lorelei told her.  
  
"I'm sorry, I forgot your name. I'm really bad with names," Amy said.  
  
"Lorelei," she told Amy. Lorelei again didn't want any of the weird reactions she'd been getting from the guys lately. She thought that a few of them saw her and Paul's little display of affection after the Stephanie incident last week and that was causing the funny behavior, but she wasn't sure.  
  
She was invited in and met many of the Raw diva's. There were a couple, like Miss Jackie and Stacy that rubbed her the wrong way so to speak, but the were mostly pretty nice. She stayed in there talking, mostly to Amy and Trish for a while.  
  
Amy and Trish noticed the wedding band on Lorelei's finger and pulled her aside. They'd heard about the previous week's incident both with Stephanie and after. She told them most of the story seeing as Lorelei and Stephanie had fought almost right in front of the women's locker room the week before the knew a little bit of it.  
  
Lorelei was relieved when Amy and Trish didn't have the same reactions as everyone else who knew, except the guys of Evolution and Shawn. It was nice for once to have some female companionship. She hadn't had a lot of girlfriends in high school because her father didn't want her to turn out like them. He thought that all females were just property and should be in the house cooking, cleaning, and the like. It got really old really fast.  
  
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Paul was getting anxious. He hadn't seen Lorelei in a while. For the better part of a couple hours at least. The show was about to start and he wanted to get out of here as fast as possible after his segment at the top of the show. He didn't want any more incidents between Steph and Lorelei. The less they were in the same building the better.  
  
"Chill she'll come back. She probably went to see the girls or something," Randy said. "Or go look for her or something, but you're driving me insane."  
  
Paul decided he should do just that. She had said at one point she was going to go find Shawn and he knew he would have to have a civilized conversation wit the man to get the whereabouts of his lovely wife out of him.  
  
It had gone surprisingly well with Shawn. Paul figured he knew the extent of Lorelei's temper too, considering he'd kept his own in check. Paul did find out that she had said something about seeing the girls.  
  
Paul looked at the Diva's locker room door. It wasn't often that he had had reason to knock on the door, and almost felt funny doing so. It was total unknown territory for him. He knocked.  
  
"I bet ten bucks it's Paul," a voice he immediately recognized as Lorelei's said.  
  
He couldn't help but to laugh as he heard the giggling from inside. Amy opened the door. "Damn," she mumbled. "Hi, welcome to our humble locker room."  
  
"I think I've set a record. Two smiles in one day," Lorelei joked. "I'll talk to you guys later."  
  
Lorelei hung out in the Evolution locker room while he did his segment and then the couple headed back to the hotel.  
  
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There you go. As always please read and review. 


	9. Chapter Nine

Never Say Never  
  
Chapter Nine  
  
Monday evening was tense. The writers had decided to let everything about the draft be random. As it looked right now Paul was going to be on Smackdown with a yet to be named general manager.  
  
"What are you thinking about?" Lorelei asked breaking the silence. She couldn't take it anymore.  
  
"I'm going to Smackdown tomorrow," Paul said. "Away from the few friends I have, and for all we know Stephanie could be the general manager."  
  
"Paul, don't worry about Stephanie. She's just jealous. I'm betting she didn't want anything to do with you before we got together. She wants the kind of relationship we have," Lorelei told him.  
  
Paul smiled slightly. The last few weeks Lorelei had come to figure out what to say and when to say it. He was amazed at just how close they had gotten. He was even beginning to get used to her and Shawn hanging out together, although he still didn't like it. "What are you thinking?"  
  
"All the friends I've made are on Raw. I've only met the Smackdown guys once. I don't want to be one of the only women backstage. It isn't worth the trouble it could cause," Lorelei admitted. She was beginning to like having Amy and Trish around to talk about things she wasn't comfortable telling Paul or Shawn. She knew how many problems Paul would have if there were only guys for her to hang out with too.  
  
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The next morning was just as tense as the previous evening, which was becoming unusual between the couple. They hadn't felt this much tension in weeks.  
  
"What do you want to do?" Lorelei asked.  
  
Paul raised an eyebrow causing Lorelei to smile. "You really had to ask," Paul smirked.  
  
"Anything except that," Lorelei told him. "I have a good feeling you won't be going anywhere today, and we'll need to celebrate later."  
  
"Fine, fine," Paul gave in, "I guess we could go shopping." He regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. Lorelei lit up like a child at Christmas.  
  
"That's a good idea," she said before he could change his mind.  
  
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When Stephanie heard that Kurt Angle got the job that was supposed to be hers she was angry. She was supposed to be in charge of Smackdown and she would finally drive that little tramp out of Paul's life.  
  
She decided she would have to convince Eric Bischoff that he needed to do anything to get Paul back on Raw, then for herself to be his right hand. It was going to take every ounce of charm she had to accomplish her goals, but she was ready for the challenge. She would have him back.  
  
Stephanie left Eric's office a while later. Convincing Eric that he needed Paul on Raw had been easy, as she expected, but she had to use every ounce of feminine charm to convince Eric to give her a role on Raw. She wasn't ashamed of anything she did; the ends justify the means.  
  
She couldn't wait to get that little tart out of his life. She had two friends that wouldn't mind to help with that either. She couldn't wait until Stacy and Jackie helped her get what she wanted.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
About twenty minutes into their shopping trip Paul was regretting the idea. Lorelei was almost as much of a shop-a-holic as Stephanie was, but was more selective on what she bought.  
  
"Paul what would you say if I said I wanted to be a wrestler?" Lorelei asked carefully while the pair were eating lunch.  
  
"Why would you want to be a wrestler?" he asked. That was the last thing he expected to hear from the petite woman in front of him.  
  
"Because I watched as a little girl and I always wanted to do it. At first I wanted to be like Miss Elizabeth. Sometime when I was probably in junior high I wanted to actually wrestle," Lorelei admitted. "It was something my father could never take away from me. You're the first person I've told about it"  
  
"How was he so creepy as you say?" Paul asked. He wanted to know how quickly he needed to kill the man. He had seen a couple scars but nothing else.  
  
"Normally he was verbally and emotionally abusive. He like to ignore me a lot too. He didn't hit me more than any other parent would hit their child," Lorelei said. "The man was impossible to please, so don't be surprised if he tries to hit you up for more money since I'm such a good wife and all."  
  
"If you don't mind me asking what happened to your mother?" Paul asked. She hadn't ever told him about the woman.  
  
"My mom died of cancer when I was seven. My dad, though controlling, was almost normal until then," Lorelei told him. It still hurt to talk about her mother, but it didn't feel as bad as it used to.  
  
"I'm sorry," Paul told her.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
Later that evening while Paul and Lorelei ware eating dinner Paul's cell phone rang.  
  
"I'm back on Raw," Paul said after he hung up. He was extremely excited. He knew the in ring and out of the ring issues with Shawn weren't over. They could be civil as needed, but he liked being able to beat the hell out of the man in the ring.  
  
"You really are?" Lorelei asked amazed. She had never gotten an answer about her question earlier, but wasn't going to push it. "Evolution is actually whole."  
  
"Evolution was always whole no one ever doubted that," Paul said giving his wife a kiss.  
  
"Sure you didn't," Lorelei smirked.  
  
Paul had a brilliant idea. "Stephanie's been pushing the writers to make a female member of Evolution. Ric and I can train you and pull a few strings, but you can be the female in question," Paul said.  
  
Lorelei looked at him for a minute. She couldn't believe what he was telling her. She could actually be a wrestler. Paul believed in her.  
  
"It won't be easy, but I've seen you punch the punching bag at home and the incident with Stephanie. I think you could actually do it. I think you'll love it," Paul said.  
  
Lorelei didn't know what to say. She was still in shock that someone actually believed in her. No one had believed in her since her mother died thirteen years ago. "I didn't think you would say that," Lorelei quietly admitted. She could only give him a hug. She wouldn't be able to this without him.  
  
Paul saw the happiness and surprise in his wife's eyes. He knew she wasn't used to support. He was happy that she was happy. It'd been a long time since he cared about anyone else's happiness as much as he did hers. "I'm taking that as a yes," Paul said smiling.  
  
"If you'll help me, I will," Lorelei said. She was finally getting over the shock.  
  
Paul saw a jewelry store across the way and had a brilliant idea. He remembered almost six weeks ago when she was disappointed that she wouldn't be able to plan he own wedding. He knew exactly what he wanted to do. He couldn't wait to put his plan into action.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
Sunday at the house show Lorelei began her in ring training. It took her all of ten minutes to figure out, that even thought Paul was right about it being difficult, she loved it already.  
  
After a couple hours she was completely exhausted and practically starved to death. She wanted to eat and sleep. 'A massage would be nice too,' she thought. She made a note to tell Paul later.  
  
She went back to the Evolution locker room and showered and changed before she told Paul she was heading to catering. She was afraid if she didn't eat soon she would pass out or something.  
  
After she finished eating she decided there was a couch in the Evolution locker room that was calling her name. It was even more tempting now than it was before.  
  
She was leaving catering when she ran into Jackie and Stacy. She'd heard from the other divas that they were pretty close to Stephanie.  
  
"Was what Steph said true?" Jackie asked.  
  
"Stephanie's said a lot of things. You need to be a little more specific," Lorelei said. She felt like screaming at the mention of the other woman.  
  
"About you being bought like a common whore," Stacy supplied.  
  
"I'm not the woman who lets men like Andrew walk all over me. You've probably slept with half the males in the company," Lorelei said.  
  
"And she actually thinks that she has class," Jackie told Stacy.  
  
"Whatever I don't have to deal with you right now," Lorelei said trying to move past the tow divas. However, Stacy and Jackie didn't move.  
  
Lorelei really didn't want to get into another fight, especially when the sides weren't even. "Look, I'm trying to get through so please move," Lorelei demanded.  
  
"What since you sucker punched Steph you think you can take us now?" Stacy demanded.  
  
Individually Lorelei didn't doubt that she could take either of the divas, but she wasn't sure about the two of them together. She wasn't up to testing it right now either. She tried again, unsuccessfully to get past the divas.  
  
"Look we both know you're a little slut, and for Paul to miss that he'd have to be stupid. All you probably are to him is an easy lay," Stacy said.  
  
"He's going to realize he still loves Stephanie and kick you to the curb like the piece of trash you are," Jackie said.  
  
Lorelei couldn't take it anymore. She swung rather wildly at Jackie but still made enough contact to send the blond sprawling on the floor. Jackie looked up in shock for a moment.  
  
As Lorelei hit Jackie, Stacy swung at Lorelei hitting the shorter woman in the eye. Soon it escalated into an all out brawl, and though not necessarily winning Lorelei was holding her own against the two blond divas.  
  
A few minutes later Lorelei felt a strong pair of arms pulling her back. She knew immediately that it was Paul and stopped swinging, though she was still struggling against his grasp.  
  
"What in the hell is going on here?" a voice boomed causing the woman to stop trying to get at each other.  
  
"She started it," Jackie and Stacy said implicating Lorelei.  
  
"After you two called me a whore, slut and piece of trash in that order," Lorelei defended herself. "You guys confronted me."  
  
Vince looked at his former son-in-law. "I hope you know what you have on your hands," he said before turning his attention back to the women.  
  
"I never want to see you fighting again. Paul please take Lorelei back to your locker room," Vince said.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -   
  
Lorelei spend much of the rest of the evening on the leather couch, which turned out to be as comfortable as she thought it would be, with ice on her face. The weaker women had gotten a couple of good shots in busting her lip and of course there was Stacy's initial shot to the eye.  
  
"When are you ever going to learn," Paul teased. "You did have the two bimbos though."  
  
"I'm not going to let them walk all over me. I gave them a chance to let me leave twice before I hit one of them," Lorelei said not moving. Paul just smiled at her. All it took was a little confidence and she as already a hell raiser.  
  
__________________________________________________________  
  
Look people it's another completed, and long chapter. Please review. 


	10. Chapter Ten

Never Say Never

Chapter Ten

The next several weeks Lorelei threw herself into her training. She desired nothing more than to prove to the world that she was better than Stephanie and the two blond divas. She wanted nothing more than to destroy them in front of the entire world. She would do just about anything to accomplish that goal.

She had been working out for several hours when she heard Paul's voice. "Lorelei you should probably give it up for the night."

"Fine," she agreed. She could feel the burn, okay well a little more than burn in some muscles, but that was her problem no one else's. "What do you want for dinner?" she asked after a few moments.

"Why don't you get cleaned up? I thought I might wine and dine my beautiful wife this evening," Paul said.

"You know what? I might just have to take you up on that offer," Lorelei giving him a kiss.

"You're all sweaty and sticky," Paul whined with a smirk.

"I thought you would be used to that by now," Lorelei said before going up to shower and change.

* * * * * * *

Paul couldn't believe how easy it had been to get what he wanted. Lorelei had been so busy recently that going out to get it had been pretty easy. It hadn't even raised any questions. He didn't want to give it to her just yet, but he'd know when it was the right time. It would come soon enough.

He changed and decided to wait downstairs for her to get ready. He knew he would be waiting for a while. She was pretty self conscious about her wild mane of fiery curls, other wise she was pretty good about getting ready quickly.

Paul waited for what seemed like forever, but was in reality about forty five minutes. He knew the wait would be worth it, but it didn't make the time go by any faster.

* * * * * * *

Lorelei showered and put on a dark green dress. She applied a little light make up and began her two or three times daily battle with her curls. 

After taming her hair she went down to see Paul waiting for her. She loved knowing she could take his breath way when she walked into a room. She didn't think that she was that beautiful but apparently Paul did.

She couldn't wait to see what restaurant that Paul took her to. She didn't care where they were going. He could take her anywhere and she would be happy. She never would have thought when she met him that he would be the way he was. He wasn't as much of a bastard as he let the rest of the world think he was.

She hoped this was the real thing because finding someone like him would be damn near impossible.

* * * * * * *

Stephanie couldn't believe what she'd just gotten wind of. She'd hired a private investigator to keep tabs on Paul and now he was going to propose, or so she assumed, to the woman he'd already married. This wasn't going to be as easy as previously planned.

Stephanie had spent the last several weeks making Lorelei's life miserable. She had done everything she could think of to keep the woman from traveling with Paul, and so far nothing had worked even when Jackie and Stacy got in on the action. Stephanie was still irate from the first time she met Lorelei. How dare someone doubt her integrity and class? 

This mess wasn't going to be pretty and that's the way Stephanie wanted it. Lorelei had never once called her a name, just used facts of the past to insinuate what she wanted to call Stephanie. Steph didn't think the other woman would do well in the kind of environment she had in mind.

The wheels in Stephanie's head began turning again and she decided that now would be the perfect time to put her plans into action.

* * * * * * *

The next day was heaven. Paul loved living so far away from everything that when it was storming, like it was today, they were pretty much completely isolated from everything. It was like being in their own protective bubble away from the prying eyes of the rest of the world. They might even continue to be in the bubble tomorrow if the storm kept going the way it was.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of a little bit of thunder," Paul teased when a rather loud clap of thunder made Lorelei jump.

"I'm sorry that I don't have nerves of ice like you do," Lorelei said. She was sitting on the couch cuddled up with him reading. He was a big teddy bear in private he just didn't want anyone else seeing that. "I'm going to make some pudding want some?"

"God woman, is it your mission to make me fat?" Paul teased. "No thanks."

"Somehow I doubt I'll make you fat. You work out religiously. You take it way to seriously," Lorelei told him as she went into the kitchen where she found her copy of _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix._ 'How did this get in here?' she wondered. She finished making the pudding and headed back to the living room. She intended on reading some of the book while she could still find it. Somehow a lot of her favorites had turned up missing. Paul's work no doubt.

"Have you been indulging yourself in my Harry Potter books?" Lorelei asked. She knew he had something to do with it winding up in the kitchen. She never took he books in there because she didn't want them to get wet or yucky.

"Why would I read Harry Potter?" Paul asked. "I can think of tons of things more to do that are more interesting than reading almost any book."  
  
"I'm guessing that almost anything wouldn't include something racy?" Lorelei teased before resuming her position curled up next to him. She opened her book and began to read.

Almost as soon as she sat down Paul began tickling her. She tried to ignore him but within minutes he had her pinned on the couch. "Not fair. You're bigger than me," Lorelei complained between giggles. She was desperately trying to free herself but wasn't getting any results.

"Hasn't anyone told you that life isn't fair? It's not my fault I'm bigger than you," Paul said momentarily giving up on his tickle assault. "I can think of one thing that would make the tickling stop."

"And what might that be Mr. Levesque?" Lorelei asked already knowing what was on his mind.

Paul didn't answer instead he kisser letting him know how right she was.

* * * * * * *

Lorelei had been training for almost six weeks and her big try out match was here. She knew she only had to prove proficient at the basics but she wanted to be a legitimate competitor like Amy not all T&A like Stacy and Jackie.

"Don't worry about it Doll, you'll do awesome," Ric told her. He'd become like a surrogate father to her.

"I know that but there will be some pretty damned important people watching. What if I mess up something?" Lorelei said. She hadn't been nervous until now.

"Look if you calm down and focus then you'll do fine. You'll impress everyone who might be sitting out there. Paul will be right there with you," Ric reassured her calmly.

"You ready Pumpkin?" Paul asked returning with her water. She had no idea why he'd taken to called her pumpkin, but he only did it in private or around close friends.

"I'm getting in the zone. Don't worry I'm going to knock the socks off everyone just as long as you're there with me," Lorelei said. She was trying to shake the rapidly growing butterflies out of her system. It wasn't working to well.

Fifteen minutes before the match Lorelei was informed of her opponent for her try out match Lisa Marie. She knew that every ounce of concentration she had had to be put into the upcoming match.

* * * * * * *

Steph was waiting anxiously for the tryout match to start. All she had to do was kiss Paul to distract Lorelei enough to blow the match. That would leave the opening for a woman in Evolution. Stacy would be more than happy to fill that spot and have an onscreen romance with Paul that might not be only onscreen, or at least look that way to everyone else. She could easily plant evidence that the relationship was more.

This was going to be relatively easy as long as Lorelei's tryout got messed up. She only hoped that the distraction wouldn't work in reverse and make Lorelei focus that much more on not messing up her match.

* * * * * * *

Lorelei was excited about he try out when she got into the ring. She was going against Lisa Marie who was quite technically sound, possibly second only to Nora. She was honored even if this was as far as her career ever went.

"Lor, good luck," Trish said. "Lisa Marie is good, and Steph's in the building tonight."

"What is she doing here? She's been making my life a living hell for months. I'm going to hurt someone," Lorelei ranted. She knew the woman was up to something, and that something probably had to do with her never ending mission to get Paul back.

"Focus on Lisa Marie. Don't let Stephanie get to you. She doesn't want any new female her especially you," Trish advised her friend. "If you let her get under you're skin you're letting her win. She wants to win don't let her."

"Thanks Trish. You're right I need to focus on what I need to do and not let whatever she may have planned get to me," Lorelei said calming down some. She had to regain her focus.

"You're looking awesome in the ring. Vince would have to be crazy to pass you up. He'll see how beautiful you are and how much potential and talent you have," Trish reassured her friend.

The pair continued talking for a moment trying to relax before her match.

Lorelei got some other good luck wishes from various people. Shawn stayed and talked to her longer than most, probably to calm her nerves. When Paul saw him he shot a dagger sharp glare in Shawn's direction but kept his temper in check.

* * * * * * *

Lorelei took a deep breath and gazed at Lisa Marie for a moment before the women began.

About five minutes later Lorelei saw Stephanie come and watch standing next to Paul. Lorelei did her best to concentrate, but lost it. It took a moment to refocus her energy but she was successful.

Paul was so wrapped up in watching his wife that he didn't notice Stephanie until he wondered why his wife had an ever so subtle lack of concentration. She almost immediately regained it though. He chose to ignore Stephanie's presence just like his wife had.

Stephanie could only smirk when she saw the reaction of Paul and Lorelei. They wouldn't expect her to pull something with her father watching and she was instead going to pull something huge.

Stephanie waited until Lorelei was looking their direction before she planted a kiss right on Paul's lips. It only took a moment for him to pull away with an obviously disgusted look on his face.

'God, please don't let that have distracted her to much,' Paul prayed.

Lorelei saw what had happened and was thankful that Lisa Marie had her in a headlock otherwise all hell might have broken loose.

"Relax don't play into her hand," Lisa Marie said quietly to the younger woman hoping Lorelei would be able to control her temper.

Lorelei again quickly regained her composure and kept things going in the ring. Paul's plan of her being in Evolution was the best way at getting back at Stephanie.

Paul smiled when Lorelei regained her composure. She would legitimately get her chance to get revenge on Stephanie this way. She was almost as good at playing head games as he was, only more selective of targets, which was honestly kind of scary.

When the match concluded and Lorelei had won. Vince realized what he was looking at. He had pure untapped talent with a ton of potential, along with beauty. He would be a fool not to grab her up even if he had some other people to talk to, to make sure she was up to the competition level that the WWE required. 


	11. Chapter Eleven

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone except Lorelei. I don't make any money either.  
  
Never Say Never  
  
Chapter 11  
  
Two weeks after her try out match Lorelei was signing her name on a WWE contract. Hopefully there would be more contracts to come, but she was happy that she was there.  
She'd signed it after making sure she'd read all the fine print. She'd attempted to put in a clause saying that she wouldn't compete in bra and panties and mud wrestling matches of any type. Needless to say that for this contract it wasn't added. Maybe next time if there was a next time.  
"If they know what's good for ratings they'll let you compete. They'll realize you're so much more than T&A like they do Lisa Marie or Nora," Paul reassured her.  
"Look how long someone like Trish was T&A despite her talent. Look what happened to Jacqueline because she could actually compete. She's rarely used," Lorelei pointed out. "They brought Rena back despite her lack of talent."  
"Good luck," Shawn said coming up behind Lorelei, scaring her to death.  
"Michael Shawn Hickenbottem, I swear if you do that again I will start calling you Mikey in front of everyone," Lorelei threatened. She hated it when he did that.  
"Lorelei Olivia, if you do I'll call you Lori until the end of time," Shawn teased.  
"You call me that now. No matter what I do you'll probably never stop," Lorelei said. "I however am going to the Evolution locker room to see if there's some champagne or something. I need to celebrate."  
Paul and Shawn watched down the hallway in the opposite direction of the Evolution locker room.  
"Honey, you're going the wrong way," Paul pointed out.  
Lorelei did a double take. He never even called her a nickname let alone a pet name. "I know I just need to get my girls. I need someone to celebrate with," she told him.  
"I thought I was the only one who you needed to celebrate with," Paul almost whined.  
"I'll celebrate with you later," Lorelei told him.  
"Okay I'm leaving now. That was a little to much information," Shawn said going to find his locker room.  
Lorelei continued down the hallway when she literally ran into Stephanie McMahon. She mentally cursed herself for not watching where she was going.  
"Why don't you watch were you're going, or are you to stupid to walk and look at the same time," Stephanie screeched. She had fire in her eyes.  
"Stephanie, I don't want to argue or fight with you, I just was to excited to watch were I was going. I'm sorry I ran into you," Lorelei said. She didn't want to put up with the other woman at the moment.  
"Well you did run into me, but I'll deal with you later, by the way watch what goes on tonight. I'm sure you'll find it quite interesting," Stephanie said with a smirk.  
"It doesn't matter what you do. You won't be able to bring me down. I won't give you that satisfaction," Lorelei said walking past the youngest McMahon.

  
Paul went to the Evolution locker room and about ten minutes later Lorelei returned with Amy and Trish. Paul could only imagine the havoc they would be able to reek in the room. Woman aside from Lorelei and occasionally Angie had never invaded the strictly male locker room.  
He sighed when Lorelei had found a rather large bottle of champagne. This was definitely somethign taht he would have to see to believe.  
"And you said that he doesn't drink," Dave teased.  
"Before this she hasn't had more than an occasional glass of wine at a restaurant with dinner," Paul said.  
"I thought she was only twenty. Isn't this condoning something illegal?" Randy asked.  
"Her birthday's next month," Paul said as if it made everything okay. "Besides, we can't make Trish and Amy stop so why make her? She just won't be driving tonight."  
"He actually cares," Randy teased. "Our baby's growing up."  
Paul smacked his friend upside the head before turning his attention back to the girls. They didn't seem to notice that they were hanging out of all places in the Evolution locker room.

Stephanie had called a meeting of the minds, which honestly was only her. Jackie was a complete ditz, and Stacy was just naive. She almost felt sorry for dragging the two blondes into this but remorse wasn't an emotion that McMahon's valued.  
She was going to be announced as Bischoff's right hand woman and that freak Johnny Nitro was going to be fired. It was going to be pretty cool.  
Stacy was on her way to become a legitimate female competitor and Jackie was just plain vindictive and Lorelei had hurt her pride many times. It was nice to see someone possess the quality almost as well as a McMahon.  
Stephanie had to convince Eric and the writing staff that despite her last name, Lorelei wasn't the female for Evolution. The audience already had one read-head to watch from week to week. That was going to be hard because her father liked the woman, probably because of her curves.  
She didn't come up with anything this meeting as she was mentally preparing herself for the upcoming evening. She would only imagine the look on Lorelei's face when she found out who was Bischoff's new personal assistant. This was going to be to sweet.

Paul had barely saved himself and the others from being kicked out of their own locker room. The ironic thing was the they would easily force them to comply if not working off a couple to many glasses of the wonderful champagne they had come into possession of.  
"Are you sure you want her to be part of Evolution? She doesn't hold alcohol very well," Randy teased.  
"But there are so many other things she can do that you will never experience," Paul said.  
"Okay, we don't need to hear about your love life," Ric said walking into the room. "Might I ask why there are three beautiful women on our couch?"  
"Lorelei signed her contract today. She wanted to celebrate. She found champagne and invited Amy and Trish to celebrate with her and they had no where else to go," Paul explained. "I wasn't about to let her drink anywhere else."  
"Don't let her drink to much. Rumor has it Bischoff has a new assistant, and you know how he gets when he wants to impress someone," Ric told him. "I don't know if he knows there's a new addition to the Raw roster."  
"Great," Paul said thinking of a way to get the women away from the mostly empty bottle of champagne.  
It was a task that sounded easier than it actually was. It took a few attempts, but he eventually succeeded. Ric was right about Bischoff when he wanted someone to impress him, especially someone he wanted to respect him.

Things in the Evolution locker room had calmed down before the taping of heat began. Trish and Amy were staying there at the request of Lorelei, except for the spot that Amy had to tape with Kane. It was amazed the angle was going as long as it was considering the writers seemed to think that the audience had the memory of a goldfish.  
Lorelei remembered what Stephanie had said earlier and was watching the television intensely. She watched and when there was only about twenty minutes of the show remaining she began to think that Stephanie had been again messing with her, when Bischoff's ever annoying music began.  
"Well, well, well. It seems as I have an announcement to make," Eric said, "but first I would like to announce my new assistant Stephanie McMahon."  
Stephanie's music hit and she strutted out to the ring. The people weren't sure whether or not to like her yet.  
"We also have a new addition to the Raw roster and I would like to see if she's up to snuff with our woman's champion Gail Kim. Next week she'll have a match with Gail Kim for the woman's title, no holds barred," Eric announced . The crowd had mixed reactions. They wanted to see the match, but they didn't want to cheer for anything that Bischoff had done.  
Lorelei was stunned. She hadn't expected that she would be thrown into a match so soon. The scariest part was that it would be no holds barred. She had only been under contract for a few hours and was sure she was already in over her head.  
"Lorelei you'll be okay," Ric told her. "You learned from the game and the dirtiest player in the game."  
"That's easy for you to say. Sure it's mostly scripted but I haven't worked with Gail, and I'm..." Lorelei said. "You'll do fine. Practice a little with her and you'll know what to expect. Gail's a professional, so are you," Paul reassured. "If it bothers you that much then she can come home with us tomorrow for a few days so she can work with you."  
"Thank you," Lorelei said. She left the room to find the woman.  
She again ran into Stephanie. "Now that I'm in a position of power you better try to get on my good side if that's at all possible," Stephanie warned.  
"Only you would abuse the power. I almost had some respect for you when you were the Smackdown GM. You had integrity then," Lorelei said. "Besides you still have to go through Bischoff to do anything."  
"But Bischoff trusts me. If you don't win next week then I can guarantee that you will end up just another piece of T&A like Jackie. That will humiliate you more than anything. Then Paul will realize what's good for him," Stephanie said.  
"Then what? He comes back to someone he doesn't love or trust. Stephanie blondes are supposed to be stupid. He doesn't want anything to do with you and I'm not the reason. I have people to go and things to see, so please excuse me," Lorelei said.  
Stephanie decided now wasn't the time, and that she would get her when the time was right. It would only be a matter of time.

Review please


	12. Chapter 12

Never Say Never  
  
Chapter 12  
  
Lorelei made a big impact on the woman's division. She'd only been there for a few weeks before she secured the woman's title.  
She was excited tonight was her first big pay-per-view. She was going to defend her title against Lita and Victoria in a triple threat match.  
"I'm gonna get you this time. Evolution's banned from ringside," Lisa Marie teased.  
"Not once has any Evolution member interfered in one of my matches," Lorelei said sarcastically.  
"Well you're the lucky one that gets to win. They're pushing Evolution to all the titles again," Amy said.  
"Talk to Steph and the creative team about that one," Lorelei said.  
"Speaking of any more run ins with the billion dollar princess?" Lisa asked.  
"We had a verbal sparring session after the meeting last week, but she's been laying off, which I'm sure means she's up to something," Lorelei siad.  
She talked to the girls for a little while longer before she went back to the Evolution locker room where all her things were. She wanted to veg out on one of those couches before beginning to practice.  
  
"Are you ready?" Paul asked in full HHH persona.  
"You bet your ass," Lorelei replied before leaving for the ring. This wasn't going to be pretty, but she knew she was going to win.  
Lorelei was pleased when her entire match went off without a hitch, but as she went backstage a bad feeling washed over her. Something bad was going to happen tonight and she was afraid that it was going to happen to one of the two men she loved the most.  
She returned to the Evolution locker room where they taped a brief promo about the upcoming Hell in a Cell match, and Lorelei just watched Paul mentally preparing for the match.  
When the time came she went to the guerrilla position she went with him to watch from there. She watched the two men enter and prayed that neither would get severely hurt. She knew they were going to have a little more than the typical bumps and bruises, but she was really nervous.  
Randy, Dave, and Ric were watching with her only slightly more calmly. "Doll, calm down. They've both been there before; they'll be careful," Ric reassured.  
Lorelei didn't respond. She was glued to the match that she knew Paul was supposed to win. She was willing them not to do anything to harm each other to much.  
She watched the devastating match until the end even though her stomach was doing more flips and spins than an acrobat. She had to close her eyes at a couple points because she was afraid of what she might see.  
When the match was over Lorelei lead the remaining members of Evolution down to ringside to collect their fearless leader, as J.R. said. She warned them against laying a finger on Shawn though she knew she couldn't do anything about the verbal abuse he was going to get for the guys to stay in character.  
She waited in the trainers room while Paul was getting stitched up and waited for Shawn to show up.  
"Are you sure you'll be okay," Lorelei asked as she and Paul got into their rental car.  
  
"Just act like you're going to shake his hand like you're supposed to," Lorelei encouraged her husband as the Heat matches ended.  
"I'll try, I'll try," Paul said. He noted the edge in his wife's voice all day, but she wouldn't tell him what was bothering her. "I'm going to go out alone tonight."  
"Okay, just please remember to be careful," Lorelei said knowing how pointless arguing with him was.  
"I'm always careful," Paul said. "That's one of the reasons I'm the game."  
"Whatever. You need to get to guerrilla position now," Lorelei said giving him a quick kiss.  
"I'll see you in a little bit," Paul said leaving the locker room.  
Lorelei watched as the two men prepared to shake hands when Kane's music played through the arena as scripted.  
Shew watched as Kane kicked Shawn and Paul make his exit from the ring. The chair going around Shawn's neck the same way Kane had done to Matt Hardy a few weeks prior.  
Lorelei just about screamed when she saw Kane climb to the middle turnbuckle and did scream when he landed on the steel chair that was still around Shawn's neck.  
"Lor, relax," Rick said trying to ignore the amount of blood that was coming out of his mouth.  
"Glenn, could have killed him," Lorelei said. "I have to go to the hospital with him."  
"Lorelei, stop before you do something rash," Randy said.  
"He's my best friend. And he has to be with someone. I have to go with him so he doesn't freak out more than he is already," Lorelei said.  
"There are bound to be cameras around and it isn't normal to see HHH's love interest at Shawn Micheal's side," Randy said.  
"I was his friend long before I even knew Paul, but I'll sit in the front until the doors close," Lorelei said. She left before they guys could argue with her anymore.  
She impatiently sat on the front fo the ambulance while Shawn was loaded. The moment the doors shut she went to the back. "Shawn relax they're taking care of you," Lorelei reassured.  
  
"Where'd Lorelei go?" Paul asked probably already knowing the answer.  
"She went with Shawn. She said she had to," Dave said being the only one bold enough to speak.  
"Why the hell did you let her go?" Paul asked. Glenn was losing his sanity and Paul wanted to know where his wife was so he could keep an eye on her.  
  
Stephanie smiled as the ambulance drove away. She hadn't seen Lorelei in the ambulance, but she knew she had to have been in there. Paul obviously knew she was there. She suspected now was the time to make her move. She had the almost perfect chance.  
She knocked on the Evolution locker room and hoped Paul would answer.  
"What do you want?" Paul asked. He was less than thrilled to see her.  
Stephanie put on an innocent face. "Paul, I was wondering if you could give me a ride back to the hotel. My rental broke down in the parking lot," Stephanie said sweetly.  
"Steph, not tonight. I don't have time or energy to deal with you," Paul said getting ready to close the door.  
"Wait, Paul, I'm sorry. I've really been a bitch the last few months. I just want a ride back to the hotel. After that I won't ask anything more of you," Stephanie said sweetly.  
"Fine," Paul agreed, "I'm leaving after the elimination tag match."  
"Same rental as always?" Stephanie asked remembering that he always had the same rental when they were together.  
"Of course, remember after this you never ask me anything," Paul said.  
"If that's what you want," Stephanie said. "Thank you."  
Paul sighed. He wasn't sure what he'd gotten himself into, but he knew he couldn't get out of it.  
Paul watched the rest of Raw from the back and did his part to keep the show going.  
  
Lorelei waited in the waiting room. She wanted to call Rebecca but didn't want to alarm her more than needed.  
Before she could call Rebecca her phone ran. Checking the number she saw that is was unlisted, she knew it had to be from Rebecca.  
"Hello," Lorelei answered.  
"Please tell me that was all scripted," Rebecca demanded.  
"I'm sorry. He was only supposed to stomp on the chair," Lorelei said. "Shawn will be okay though. He's still able to move all his limbs."  
Lorelei talked to Rebecca for a little while longer to calm the woman down before promising to update her when she knew more.  
  
Stephanie made sure she had a room on the same floor as Paul and rode up the elevator with him.  
"Maybe we could go somewhere and talk. I mean we can be civil even though we're divorced," Stephanie said.  
"Steph, I'm not sure that's a good idea," Paul said.  
"It's just talking, Paul. Lorelei won't be back for hours," Stephanie said as Paul was opening the door to his room.  
"Well..." Paul started until Stephanie pulled him into the room.  
  
There you go review and stuff please. 


	13. Chapter 13

Never Say Never  
  
Chapter 12  
  
It was almost 2 am before Lorelei was convinced to go back to the hotel. She debated for a few moments whether or not to call a cab then decided against it. There were to many crazy people out. Instead she called Paul who she figured was worried about her anyway.  
  
"Hello," a sleepy, but recognizable, voice answered. She felt like crying when she heard the voice. She didn't say a word, just hung up.  
  
She then called Jay Reso, one of her good friends who wouldn't question her to much.  
  
"Hello," a sleepy voice answered.  
  
"Jay, can you come get me at Memorial Hospital?" Lorelei.  
  
"Why me?" Jay asked.  
  
"Don't ask questions just please come get me," Lorelei said.  
  
"Fine, I'll be at the main entrance in twenty," Jay reluctantly agreed.

------------------------  
  
She could only smirk when the phone hung up. There was only one person who would hang up like that and it was Lorelei.  
  
She looked at the sleeping form next to her and was relieved to know he didn't wake at all. This was going to be the end of his marriage and she couldn't be prouder of herself.  
  
This was going to be priceless. There were going to be some major fireworks going off for the next week and she was determined to see them. She might even just add a little more to them.

Lorelei was waiting as Jay pulled up. She quickly got into the car and closed the door.  
  
"Now tell me what's going on," Jay gently demanded.  
  
"I called Paul to have him pick me up, but Stephanie answered his cell," Lorelei said quickly. "He slept with her."  
  
"You don't know that she could have been there for other reasons. Reasons that are legit and not being unfaithful," Jay said.

"Jay, I called at two in the fucking morning. If they didn't sleep together why the hell would she be there?" Lorelei asked.  
  
Jay wasn't sure what to say. He had to admit that he'd think the same thing if he'd encountered the same situation with his wife. "Where are you going to stay tonight?" he asked.  
  
"I don't know, but definitely not in my room," Lorelei said.  
  
"Honey, you should hear his side of the story," Jay said  
  
"Not tonight, Jay. Maybe in the morning," Lorelei said. "I have no idea where I'm going to stay, but it's not going to be in my room."  
  
"Adam was supposed to room with me but he needed to go home early so I have an extra bed," Jay said.  
  
"Thanks, I need a few things from my room though," Lorelei told him. Getting her belongings was against her better judgement but she wanted her stuff.  
  
When they got to the hotel Lorelei went to her room. She unlocked the door and turned on the desk lamp knowing it shouldn't wake Paul up. She hoped Stephanie had left. Before she made it to the bathroom she saw Steph and Paul on the bed curled into each other. She didn't go any further into the room. She did the first thing she thought of and ran. She wasn't going to cry. That resolve quickly broke as she entered the hallway. As soon as the door closed behind her tears began to roll down her cheeks.  
  
"What's wrong?" Jay asked.  
  
"Paul and Stephanie were curled up together on our bed," Lorelei said.  
  
Jay wasn't sure what to do. He just hugged her. She kept crying and he slowly guided her to his room down the hall.

----------------------

Paul heard the door open and close behind him when he opened his eyes he noticed the desk lamp on. Lorelei must have come home was the first thought that came to his mind.  
  
He was fully awake a moment later and realized he was with Stephanie. 'Fuck,' he thought. He knew he had screwed up big time. Unimaginably big.  
  
"Steph, get up. You need to leave," Paul said gently shaking the woman next to him.  
  
"Paul, it's like 3 am. No one will be here anytime soon," Stephanie said sleepily.  
  
"Steph, you need to leave. I don't even know why I invited you to stay," Paul lied slightly. He knew he'd let Stephanie stay because he wasn't happy with Lorelei and the whole situation.  
  
"Paul, don't lie. You know why you wanted me to stay. You were pissed because Lorelei cares more about being with Shawn than being with you," Stephanie said.  
  
"Stephanie, I don't want you to be here. The only person I want to wake up next to is Lorelei," Paul said trying to control his anger. Stephanie wasn't helping this situation. She'd always known which buttons to push and when.  
  
"Fine, but the next time she has to run to Shawn's aid you'll come to me. She's not stupid enough not to know," Stephanie said gathering her things before leaving.

----------------------------

The next morning Lorelei was determined to confront Paul. She couldn't live with knowing that Paul slept with Stephanie while she was worried about one of her best friends. She couldn't believe he would stoop that low without help from someone.  
  
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Jay asked.  
  
"Jay, you were the one who told me to hear his side of the story. Maybe he'll be man enough to admit he made a mistake and why he did it," Lorelei said.  
  
"Well good luck," Jay said giving her a hug.

---------------------

Paul had to admit he was a little worried about Lorelei. She'd never holed herself up without telling someone where she was.  
  
He wanted to find her, but he assumed that she'd seen him and Stephanie lying in bed the previous night. That made him question how wise it was to go look for her. She had quite the temper when you could light the fuse, and he could only assume how angry she was.  
  
Lorelei slowly opened the door hoping that Stephanie wasn't on the other side. She couldn't stand to see the woman right now, or possibly ever.  
  
Paul noticed her as soon as she opened the door. "Lor, where have you been?" he asked walking over to her.  
  
"I stayed with Jay last night. He brought me back from the hospital," Lorelei said honestly hoping he would be honest with her.  
  
"Why didn't you call me?" Paul asked. "I would have come to get you."  
  
"I did call," Lorelei told him. "Stephanie answered, so I hung up."  
  
"Yeah, I gave Stephanie a ride home last night. She stayed here," Paul said tentively hoping to be ale to judge his wife's reaction.  
  
"So I noticed. The two of you looked pretty cozy when I came in to get my stuff," Lorelei said trying to control her temper so he could say what she had to say. "I thought you didn't want anything to do with her."  
  
"I don't, but I wasn't exactly thinking straight last night. I was angry and Stephanie took advantage of that," Paul said.  
  
"She only took advantage of that because you let her. You wanted to get back at me," Lorelei said.  
  
"I was angry, but I didn't want to get back at you," Paul said.  
  
"So you slept wit your ex-wife and the woman who hates me more than anyone. I'm your wife," Lorelei said struggling to control herself.  
  
"It was stupidity. I shouldn't have even listened to a word Stephanie said. I love you," Paul said.  
  
"That line can fix almost anything, but it can't fix this. I trusted you. I assumed you would trust me, too," Lorelei told him.  
  
"Damn it, I do trust you," Paul said getting angry and frustrated.  
  
"You don't act like it. You've known Shawn's like a brother to me since the beginning. You told me you were over her and she didn't mean anything to you. I trusted you," Lorelei said her temper beginning to get the best of her.  
  
"I'm sorry," Paul said.  
  
"Sorry that you got caught. I'm sorry that I ever trusted you. Letting you in was the stupidest thing that I ever did," Lorelei said packing her suitcase.  
  
He grabbed her arm as she was going into the bathroom. "Lorelei, I have something for you. I've been waiting for a long time to give this to you. Marry me the right way?" Paul said.  
  
Lorelei wasn't sure wether to say yes or laugh in his face. She was so angry she couldn't think. "I can't do this, Paul. This situation is to fucked up. You mess around with your ex and then try to give me the one thing I've always wanted. I need time," Lorelei said getting the last of her stuff.

------------------

Lorelei knocked on the door to Trish and Amy's room. She needed space and Trish and Amy would give it to her.  
  
"Ames, can I stay with you guys for a while?" Lorelei asked.  
  
"Sure it can be like a series of girls nights in or something," Amy said knowing there was more to the story.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry it took so long. I've been working 30-40 hours a week so time has been limited. I'm hoping to get a few more things updated by the end of the weekend.


	14. Chapter 14

Never Say Never  
  
Chapter 14  
  
It was Monday afternoon. Lorelei hadn't seen Paul in almost a week except for business. She still felt her heart shattering.  
  
She'd hung out mostly with Jay, Adam, Matt, Shane Helms, and the mutlitudes of other people that always seemed to be around them.  
  
She wasn't sure how she was going to convince the world that she was still in love with Paul. Everytime she saw him she wanted to hurt him as badly as he hurt her. She couldn't do it and if she could figure it out probably wouldn't do it anyway.  
  
She'd been trying to be a good sport about doing normal people things and not being sulky, but there were times when she saw Matt and Amy and wished more than anything it was her and Paul  
--------------------  
  
Paul had been miserable. He'd been in a foul mood all week even around his fellow Evolution members. He was worse than when he and Stephanie first divorced.  
  
The guys in Evolution weren't exactly thrilled about the actions of their fearless leader which made Paul in a worse mood if possible  
  
"Stop pacing and tell her you fucked up," Ric told Paul. "The longer you wait the more pissed with you she'll be."  
  
"I told her it was a mistake," Paul said.  
  
"You told her but you have to prove it to her. Talk is cheap," Dave said. He thought Lorelei would have to be crazy to take him back but decided saying it would do more harm than good.  
  
"She thinks that your not over Stephanie and she's hurting," Randy said recalling the conversation he'd had with the woman a few days prior.  
  
"How come women don't let us know what they're thinking?" Paul asked sourly. "How come my marriage has become such a topic of interest?"  
  
"Lorelei is like a sister to me, and you hurt her. She doesn't know from moment to moment what she's thinking, and your sulking instead of being ad man and admitting you made a mistake and trying to fix it.," Randy said feeling his angry rise.  
  
"Trust me Orton, I'm more of a man than you'll ever be," Paul said. He wasn't going to admit the younger man might be right.

"A real man wouldn't have slept with a whore like Stephanie. While his wife was worried sick about her best friend. She was tired, hungry, and upset. She wanted nothing more than for you to comfort her," Randy countered.  
  
"You don't know anything Randy so shut it," Paul said vehemently.  
  
"You were pissed that for once Lorelei's focus didn't center completely around you, so you did the first thing you could think of to relieve the anger. Stephanie knew you well enough to know how you were feeling and took advantage of it," Randy stated with deadly accuracy. His hands were clenched at his sides. He was determined not to hit the older and bigger man.  
  
"We agree that Stephanie took advantage of me," Paul said.  
  
"And the point of my little speech wasn't that. If that's what you thought it was then you aren't taking responsibility for your actions. Though Stephanie did take advantage of you, but she didn't rape you," Randy said. "Since you can't admit that it was partially your fault than maybe Lorelei is better off without you."  
  
"Fuck you Randy. You don't know anything about Lorelei and my relationship," Paul said.  
  
"I don't even know why I try. You've got your head to far up you ass to even consider that someone might be trying to help you," Randy said leaving the Evolution locker room before the encounter came to blows.  
---------------  
  
Lorelei wandered around backstage before the taping of Heat began looking for noone and someone at the same time when she ran into Stephanie.  
  
"I'm sorry you weren't woman enough to keep Paul," Stephanie said.  
  
"And you know what? I'm sorry, I could have saved you and myself the time and just gave him back to you," Lorelei said. She didn't feel like arguing with the woman. It wasn't worth it. Lorelei refused to be foolish again and fight for something she never had.  
  
"You know I guess it just wasn't meant to be," Stephanie said.  
  
"Damn it Stephanie, I agreed with you. What more do you want?" Lorelei asked. "It's not enough that you took my husband, not you have to try to humiliate me too. Don't you ever just give up?"  
  
"You make it so easy though. I mean you still have to make the world think that your in love with the man," Stephanie reminded.  
  
"Stephanie, please stop. I know this so just live you happily ever after and I'm just a fool. Let's get over it already," Lorelei said pushing past the woman. She felt like crying and would be damned before she did it in front of Stephanie.  
  
She ran to find a secluded place to let all her bottled up emotions out. She slumped in a corner of a dead end hallway no longer caring who saw her cry. She needed the release.  
  
When she finished she knew that she needed to look at the script for the night praying that there was no physical contact between her and Paul. She knew she couldn't touch him.  
  
She knocked on the door of the Evolution locker room for the first time ever. She prayed that Paul wouldn't answer the door. She wasn't sure if she could take seeing him.  
  
Ric opened the door. "What did you want Doll?" he asked.  
  
"I need my copy of the script. I assume it was brought here," Lorelei said.  
  
"Yeah, come in while I get it," Ric said.  
  
"I don't think that's a wise idea. It's better to stay out here," Lorelei told him.  
  
"Paul went to practice. I promise he's not in here," Ric told the woman. "He does feel like a dunce though."  
  
"Ric, I don't want to hear it. I'm sure I feel like a bigger dunce than he does," Lorelei told him. "I trusted him enough to think that he wouldn't do something like that."  
  
"Does it help any that he's miserable, too?" Ric asked.. "He's been making the rest of us miserable, too."  
  
"Not really. I wasn't the one who betrayed him. The first thing out of his mouth was that it was a mistake. He didn't apologize until I started packing all my stuff. I'm not sure he even apologized for what he did. It might have been just that he got caught. He said she took advantage of him before he even thought about saying sorry," Lorelei said. "Confronted him and he did the on thing I've always imagined someone doing. He proposed to me properly. I don't know what to do anymore. He ripped my heart out then asked me to be with him forever."  
  
Ric couldn't help but feel badly for the woman in front of him. The business had put a lot of strain on his marriage at times . "If you don't want to go somewhere over break you're welcome to come with me," Ric offered.  
  
"No thanks. I think I'm going to see Shawn," Lorelei said. "I don't want you to get put in the middle of my problems with Paul."  
  
"Okay, Doll, if you need anyone to talk to let me know," Ric said.  
  
"Don't worry about me and I promise I will," Lorelei said. She took a moment to look over the script for the night. She cursed aloud when she saw she had to kiss Paul after his victory. She didn't want to touch him.  
  
"Doll, it'll all turn out okay in the end," Ric reassured her before she left.  
---------------

Paul knew Lorelei had befriended Jay Reso and his friends. He also knew that she was staying with them. He wasn't exactly happy about it either. Lorelei was his wife.  
  
He had a match that evening with Copeland and knew the man was going to be extra stiff to release the anger he'd built up. He knew Copeland wanted to hurt him; hell half the locker room, females included, wanted to hurt him. He was more of a marked man than usual.  
  
He was supposed to be practicing, but he wasn't even in the ring before he realized his inability to focus. He'd been known to have the inability to focus on things, but wrestling was never one of those things.  
  
The only thing Paul could focus on was Lorelei. That's when he realized he loved her more than anything. "I guess you don't know what you have until it's gone," he muttered. Unless he thought of something quickly he was going to lose the most amazing woman he had ever met.  
  
When she returned to the woman's locker room she got several questioning looks, but no one spoke a word. She knew her eyes were still red and puffy from crying when she saw Ric and most likely had racoon eyes. She silently thanked the women for not questioning her.  
  
She was sure they knew it had to do with Paul. Almost everything she was upset about lately had to do with Pau and/or Stephanie, but no one ever mentioned it. They only watched as she reapplied her makeup to cover as much of the damage as she could.  
  
She was also getting herself in the zone. She had to put her personal feelings aside and do what she was being paid to do, entertain. She had people counting on her.  
---------------

Almost all the way up to the time of his match Paul was thinking and planning this was more important than any other scheme in his life. This was for all the marble so to speak This was for something more important than furthering his career. When the time for his match came he still didn't have any idea how to get his wife back, but it had to be put on the back burner until after the match.  
  
He wasn't going to lose Lorelei without a fight.  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Please review.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Lorelei and the song used is Lonestar's "Let's Be Us Again".  
  
Never Say Never  
  
Chapter 15  
  
It had been nearly two weeks since Lorelei talked to Ric and she wasn't doing to much better. She felt like she was going to go crazy but was bound and determined to let Paul make the first move to making things right between them. It was hurting her, but she didn't want to be played as a fool again.  
  
It had been another night of making the rest of the world believe that, even though Evolution was falling apart, she and Paul were still together and using each other to the best of their advantage. It seemed to be going pretty well considering that she hadn't gotten any complaints from Vince or the creative team, save Stephanie.  
  
She stayed that night later than intended, and Paul had mysteriously vanished earlier than he had ever before. She knew he was up to something and just prayed that it didn't do anything to with her. She wasn't sure she wasn't going to be able to protect her heart when he did something with the intention of winning her back.

-----------  
  
Paul finally had an idea. He was going to get Lorelei back if it killed him in the process. He needed her like he needed air to breathe or his heart to continue beating. He was going to get her back or die trying. At this point he thought he would most likely end up dying trying.  
  
It was pretty easy getting the key to Lorelei's room, thankfully she'd taken to getting her own hotel room. He'd been afraid that she was rooming with Trish or Lisa Marie, that could have ruined his entire plan. When he entered the room he took the CD out of his pocket and scribbled down a note.  
  
He was nervous when he left because the ball was in her court now. He had done what he could with her avoiding him to make things right. He couldn't do anything more except to keep trying, eventually she would have to break down and at least talk to him.

-------------------  
  
Lorelei entered her hotel room and immediately heard music. She'd come in at the beginning of a song, but couldn't remember leaving anything on. She stopped for a moment to listen to the song. It was obviously country.  
  
_Tell me what I have to do tonight  
  
'Cause I'd do anything to make it right  
  
Let's be us again_  
  
She knew after that Paul had been in her room. She wasn't sure what to make of it, but for an unknown reason she continued to listen to the song and let her mind wander to what he might have wanted, and what he might have said if he was still around when she arrived. She wasn't sure what she was going to do.  
  
_I'm sorry for the way I lost my head  
  
I don't know why I said the things I said  
  
Let's be us again_  
  
As the first verse ended Lorelei began to look for some trace of Paul in her room. On the desk she saw the shirt that she loved to wear to bed folded with a note pinned to it. She knew that she shouldn't do it but she looked at the note anyway. She knew once she read it she was going to give in and do what he wanted but for once didn't care.  
  
_Here I stand  
  
With everything to lose  
  
And all I know is I don't want to ever see the end  
  
Baby please, I'm reaching out for you  
  
Won't you open up your heart and let me come back in  
  
Let's be us again  
  
Oh us again  
_  
Reading his note she could practically hear Paul talking through the words that he had written on the note. He said he was sorry and asked him to meet him so they could talk about some things. She assumed the incident that happened weeks before. She honestly didn't blame him as much as she did Stephanie. That however wasn't helping her heart any that still stung with his betrayal.  
  
_Look at me, I'm way past pride  
  
Isn't there some way that we can try  
  
To be us againEven if it takes a while  
  
I'll wait right here until I see that smile  
  
That says we're us again  
_  
She knew that he had to be way past pride to admit that he was wrong. She turned back to the song that was once again playing from the beginning. She took the time to listen to the words one more time. She was amazed at Paul's ability to find such an eloquent song to say what he was unable to say with words. She was more amazed that he had resorted to playing a country song. She laughed when she remembered all the bellyaching that he did when she turned the radio station to country.  
  
_Baby baby what would I do  
  
I can't imagine life without you  
  
Oh, here I amI'm reaching out for you  
  
So won't you open up your heart and let me come back in  
  
Let's be us again  
  
Oh let's be us again_  
  
When the song ended and the words of Paul's note had stopped echoing through her head she wasn't sure what to do. Part of her was begging to go to Paul and forgive him and trust that hey would live happily ever after, the other part was saying that he would only use her again and she would be the one ending up in more pain, shedding more tears. She was so confused. She wasn't sure what to do so she did the first thing she could think of and picked up the phone. She needed to call someone who was unbiased in the situation. She really needed her mother, but settled for the next best person.  
  
She initially thought of calling Randy who had done his best to be unbiased and give her the advice that he thought she wanted to hear, but she didn't want him to be in the middle of this mess that had become her life. She instead called her cousin, the one family member she could deal with and was actually pretty close to. She listened quietly as Elaina pointed out the worst thing that could happen was she listen to what Paul had to say and decided not to take him bac.  
  
Lorelei contemplated that thought for a moment before deciding that Elaina was right. Paul might have something to say that would change his opinion of him, but right now that looked doubtful. Part of her still loathed him  
-------------------  
Paul said there and waited nervously to see if his wife would arrive. The only thing he had going for him at the moment was that he hadn't received divorce papers, which he knew she had considered. He didn't blame her he would have considered the same thing had the roles been reversed.  
  
He hoped that he hadn't waited to long for her to calm down and actually come up with the idea. He knew that time was critical here. If he gave her the opportunity she would move on to someone. He wasn't sure who it was, but he knew the person would have a fight coming to him.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: I'm sorry that I haven't been updating a lot. It's not that my muses have died, it's more like I don't have any time for it.  
  
Never Say Never  
  
Chapter 15  
  
Paul knew the hotel bar wasn't exactly the most romantic place but was worried about his own safety. Lorelei had as many people surrounding her as a queen bee, and they were just as protective of bees and their queen.  
  
When he saw her he felt better. He was relieved. He was almost positive that he wasn't going to show. He must have already done something right.  
  
She quickly spotted him and walked over to him. "What did you want?" she asked.  
  
"I wanted to apologize. I'm sorry I hurt you, and I'm sorry I was so angry that I let Steph take advantage of me," Paul said. It took him forever to realize that's what he should have said to begin with.  
  
"I'm glad you saw that it's your actions too," Lorelei said as indifferently as possible. She didn't want to forgive him just yet.  
  
"Lorelei, it was never my intention to hurt you. I was being stupid and let my emotions get the best of me," Paul continued hoping to get some emotion out of her.  
  
"Then I'd hate to see you try and hurt me because you successfully ripped my heart out," Lorelei said. "You knew Shawn was hurt. You had to have known I would go with him. It's not like he had anyone else."  
  
"I know that. I was just being insanely possessive like always. I really am trying to work on that, but like everything else it takes time," Paul said.  
  
"I gave you time. I dealt with the evil eye you gave everyone of my friends, especially male. I was okay wit that, but the second one of my best friends needed me more than you. You went and screwed you ex-wife, who you claim to want nothing to do with," Lorelei said. "If you betrayed me like that who says your not over Steph. You apparently loved if you turned to her when emotions ran high."  
  
"I don't care about Stephanie. I only care about you," Paul said with more conviction that Lorelei had ever heard him use.  
  
"Your going to have to prove it. Words are easily said, but actions take much more thought," Lorelei told him.  
  
Paul leaned in and kissed her, surprising both her and himself. He hadn't expected to do that.  
  
Lorelei almost lost control when Paul kissed her. It had been weeks since she felt his lips touch hers. She had to stop herself from deepening the kiss. She wasn't any more sure about their relationship than she was 30 seconds ago. "Paul, that's not going to win me over. I can't have a romantic relationship with you when I don't trust you," Lorelei said.  
  
"Fine, have it your way," Paul said. "At least let me walk you up to your room. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you."  
  
"Okay, but no more stunts like the last one," Lorelei gave in.   
--------------------  
  
Paul was in the gym the next day when he ran into Jay and some of his friends.  
  
"Look, Levesque, if you think your going to hurt Lorelei again back off. She doesn't need you," Jay said. He wasn't sure if it was bravery or stupidity.  
  
"What goes on between Lorelei and I is none of your business," Paul told the smaller man.  
  
"Lorelei is my friend that's why it's my business. You are not going to hurt her again or I'll kick your ass from here to hell and back," Jay said not losing the grit in his voice. He wasn't going to let an asshole, like Paul, hurt his friend.  
  
"Like I said, Reso, what happens between Lorelei and I is none of your business," Paul told him knowing the other man was dead serious.  
  
Jay didn't say more. The man wasn't worth getting into a fight with at the moment.  
  
Paul was still thinking about what happened the previous night. Lorelei had told him that she didn't trust him or believe him. He hadn't been expecting him to say that.  
  
He had a bigger job than expected proving that he was over Stephanie and that he was worth her time. This was going to be more a more complicated process than getting him to meet her was. He wished a few honest words would fix it, but he'd saw how far that got him.  
  
He tried to focus on working on to keep his intimidating physique. Without that his character of HHH wouldn't be nearly as successful as it is today. However, even working out wasn't helping. He was still distracted from everything.  
  
He eventually decided to go tot he arena since he didn't have anything else left to do and didn't want to spend any more time in his hotel room than he had to, being constantly reminded how lonely he was.  
  
The Evolution members all looked at their leader strangely when he entered the locker room. "What?" he asked.  
  
"I heard what happened last night," Randy said. "I ran into Lorelei in the hallway last night. You confused the hell out of her."  
  
"I'm sorry I thought I owed her an apology and explanation," Paul told them knowing they'd hear it anyway. They were Lorelei's friends too.  
  
"You kissed her and told her you weren't going to give up on the relationship," Randy said. "I think you need to lay off a little. She needs time to get it together."  
  
"I think you need to stay out of it. Randy this is my relationship, as much as I know you care about Lorelei, it's my call to make," Paul told the younger man.  
  
"Fine, I won't say anything more about it. I was only trying to help you, but you can't accept that," Randy said making a vow to himself not to say another word about it.  
  
The man warmed up and went over their scripts for the brief period before taping began. They had two promos that would put the last nail in the Evolution casket so to speak.  
  
All four men could accept that Evolution had run it's course and was going to wherever old storylines when they were finished to be recycled. It was part of the business and Randy and Dave were ready to move on to bigger and better things.  
  
The tapings went well. The other four members of Evolution noticed their leader was slightly distracted, but it wouldn't be noticeable to anyone who didn't know what they were looking for.  
  
"We made it through another set of promos," Paul said.  
  
"Yeah we did. It was easy because it's make believe. Our characters aren't going through the personal problems that we are. Hell our characters are very different from us," Lorelei said.  
  
"True, but they aren't totally different from us. They're more extensions of us that we can acceptably show," Paul said knowing that it was true for him at least.  
  
"I have some people to meet," Lorelei told him not wanting to be drawn into this kind of conversation with him. He anted emotion.  
  
"Lorelei, next time we run into each other we can start all over. Do things right you know. Date each other and get to know each other and stuff," Paul suggested. Maybe this would help the past few weeks be water under the bridge.  
  
"I don't know. I guess you'll have to try and see," Lorelei said. She wanted him to actually do something without asking her.  
  
"Well then I'll see you around," Paul said.  
  
"Maybe," Lorelei said leaving.  
  
As Lorelei was heading to catering to meet with some of her friends. She ran into Chris Irvine. "Lorelei, I know this is going to sound stupid but would you like to go out with me?" Chris asked.  
  
"Sure, when?" Lorelei asked.  
  
"We could stop at Denny's or something after the show," Chris suggested.  
  
"Sounds like a good plan. I'll see you later," Lorelei said. "Good luck tonight."  
  
"Don't worry, I won't need it," Chris said.  
  
Stephanie, who was watching from around the corner, only smirked. She was thrilled. She had a suspicion that Chris liked her for a long time, but was only now asking her out. She knew that Paul was going to freak out. She couldn't wait for word about this to get back to him. He would again be eating out of the palm of her hand.   
-------------------------   
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	17. Chapter 17

1Never Say Never

Chapter 17

Lorelei entered her hotel room around 1:30 am hoping that no one had found out about her date with Chris. She wanted to be the first one to tell Paul. She owed him that much, and she didn't want him to kill the messanger.

She had to admit she wasn't sur how she felt about Chris. She had more fun hanging out with him than she had with anyone recently, but she hadn't had many moments like that with Paul, or anyone else for that matter, to compare it with. She tried not to give it to much thought before she went to bed. She was in for another early morning.

----------------------------

Paul had head that Lorelei left the building with Chris Irvine, who, like most guys in the back, he didn't like much. He wanted to believe that she was going to the with someone and only wanted someone to hang out with on the way there.

He tried not to spend to much time thinking about what was going on. Lorelei wouldn't do anything she considered wrong and they were still legally married.

He ordered a movie and tried to relax, but failed miserably. He called Lorelei's cell about 1 am and didn't get an answer. He wasn't sure what to next. This wasn't typical Lorelei behavior. She didn't do things like this.

Paul decided he would try to get a key to Lorelei's room. He figured that he didn't have anything to lose. She was already as mad as hell at him. He was almost sure that nothing could make him more pissed at her.

It took him almost 20 minutes to convince the lady at the desk to give him the key to his wife's room. By that time he heard someone coming in, and when he looked it was her with none other than Irvine.

He made the split second decision to follow them. They'd obviously been together and assuming they'd come in alone, they were most likely alone. He didn't go up on the same elevator, but when he got to the same floor as they did, he heard Chris invite her to his room. It took all the control he had not to jump Chris instantly. He was relieved when she refused. He did for whatever reason watch the make out scene in front of her room.

He went back to his hotel room and felt his stomach churning. If he felt this miserable seeing Lorelei make out with another woman, he couldn't imagine how Lorelei must have felt when she walked in on him and Stephanie. His miserable feeling quickly turned into anger.

They were still married. She was still his. He loved her and she'd only gone out with Chris to spite him. She'd done something for revenge. He ignored the part of him that said if he had only wanted revenge she would have taken Chris up on his offer to go back to his hotel room.

He began throwing things and destroying everything he could in his hotel room. Eventually he fell asleep in the mess that had become his room.

--------------------

Lorelei entered the house show with Chris, flirting, talking, sometimes holding hands. She wanted to be careful though. She wanted to tell Paul before he found out from anyone else. She owed him that much.

"Chris, I need to talk to Paul," Lorelei told him.

"Why? He doesn't deserve it," Chris said.

"I know, but he is my husband. He deserves to know what's going on," Lorelei said damning her heart.

"Whatever I'm going to hang out with the guys in the locker room or catering," Chris said.

She headed off toward the Evolution locker room. She wanted to be the one who told Paul she went out with Chris. She owed him that much.

"Hey Lor, didn't expect to see you here," Randy said opening the door for her.

"Is Paul here?" Lorelei asked.

"He's not in the best of moods. He hasn't spoken a word to us since he came in this morning," Randy said. "What's going on.

"I had a date with Chris last night," Lorelei admitted. "He must have found out somehow. Let me talk to him."

"Have it your way," Randy said. "Be careful."

Lorelei went in and saw the locker room in shambles. She knew Paul really had to have been pissed. "What's up?" she asked carefully.

"I don't know maybe Irvine," Paul said harshly.

"Paul, stop. I was going to tell you right now. You did a lot worse to me than I did you. I went on a date with Chris and we kissed," Lorelei told him.

"Well, it's to late. I saw you come in last night and followed you up. How made out with him in the hallway and he invited you to come back to his room," Paul said.

"But, I didn't. Paul your confusing me with you. I went out with Chris and had a good time. I needed a chance to hang out with someone who isn't reporting back to you," Lorelei said.

"How can they be reporting back to me. Unless they're threatening to hurt me they never speak to me or even look at me," Paul pointed out. "Even the guys refuse to be my spies. They don't want to break your trust."

"At least someone doesn't. It's eating you alive that I had fun on a date with Chris. Paul I know you better than you think," Lorelei said. "You probably trashed your room last night."

"At least I wasn't dreaming of Irvine," Paul said. "I was worried about you when you didn't answer your cell at 1 am."

"You finally cared about someone beyond yourself. Paul, I was honest with you and I've said what I came to say," Lorelei said.

"Lorelei, don't go. I need you," Paul said.

Lorelei took a deep breath. She hadn't expected him to admit something like that. "But you weren't there when I needed you," she said instantly wishing that she would be adult enough to talk about the extra comments, or being overly emotional.

"Okay, I deserved that. I also apologized for that. What more do you want? I don't know what to do when your not around," Paul said.

"You mean you don't have anyone to clean up after you and cook for you," Lorelei said.

"No, I don't have anyone to cuddle up with when it's raining, anyone to talk to over dinner, or anyone to hold in my arms in the middle of the night," Paul said not remembering what else he missed about her.

Lorelei wasn't sure what to say. There were tears burning in the back of her eyes that were threatening to spill out. She missed him, but she wasn't sure her heart could take another betrayal. She didn't want to admit how much she needed him just because he did it.

"Paul, I love you, too, but I'm not sure we'll be able to get through this. You hurt me more than anyone in my life," Lorelei told him.

"Doesn't love conquer all? I mean that's what I heard," Paul said.

"Guys, I'm sorry, but the shows starting in a few minutes," Stephanie said.

"Please leave, well be there in a few minutes," Paul said wanting to get rid of the woman before tempers flared.

"Okay, and Paul can I have a ride back to the hotel?" Stephanie asked.

"No," Paul answered immediately. "Please get away from me and Lorelei."

"You haven't seen the last of me," Stephanie whispered to Lorelei as she was leaving. Lorelei again resisted the urge to physically harm the woman, though it was incredibly difficult.

"Paul, I don't know what your trying to make me see, but the fact that I love you doesn't do much for me if I can't trust you. How many times am I going to have to tell you that before you take it seriously?" Lorelei told him.

"Until you admit that your as miserable without me as I am without you," Paul said hoping she felt miserable.

"Paul, I don't know how I feel. I've been on dates with like five people in my entire life. How am I supposed to know if you make me happy? How am I supposed to know this wasn't all an illusion.?" Lorelei asked.

"Honey, what your heart says is never an illusion. It's whether or not you want to listen to it," Paul told her.

"I don't care Paul. I need more time. I'm barely twenty one years old. I've lived a sheltered life. I care about you but how do I know I love you? How do I know you're my soul mate?" Lorelei asked. "I hate to be so much like you, but duty calls."

"Fine, but we're finishing this later," Paul said.

"Funny, usually I say that," Lorelei said as they were leaving.

"Where in the bloody hell are you?" Stephanie asked.

"Relax, Steph, we're her now. Let's get this show on the road," Paul said hoping to relieve some of the tension between the women.

---------------------

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	18. Chapter 18

Never Say Never

Chapter 18

It had been a month since Lorelei went out with Chris for the first time and Paul was not a happy camper. He wished that Lorelei could just lie to him; he'd be happier that way. He knew that Lorelei was going out with Chris on a semi-regular basis. She'd been up front with him like she always had been.

His onscreen relationship wasn't fairing to much better than his personal relationship with Lorelei. Now that Evolution was no more, and he'd rejected Stephanie's most recent advances his relationship wasn't exactly going the way he liked it. Not that it was when the cameras turned off. His life wasn't going very well at the moment.

"Either give up or keep trying, but whatever you decide to at it full throttle. Whatever you two have going on now isn't healthy for either of you," Ric advised. He hated seeing those two in so much pain. They were going to kill each other

"I'm trying. I just don't have any ideas. Everything that I do has met with failure. She's going out with Chris, but she hasn't decided where we stand in this mess. I'm so confused," Paul told the older man hoping for some advice.

"If she's that worth it then keep trying. Eventually the message will sink in. If you want to give up I wouldn't blame you," Ric said. "She's young and confused. It's like trying to imagine Randy in a serious relationship, and you've already crushed her."

"It's not like I'm ever going to forget that I was the one who brought this on. You, Randy, Dave, Shawn, and everyone else insists on reminding me about every five seconds. I guess you're right. She's barely 21. God, I wasn't anywhere near settling down at that age. Hell when I married Lorelei I wasn't ready to settle down," Paul said. "Maybe I should just file the papers and keep trying, but give her, her freedom back. It's not like she was thrilled about marrying me to begin with."

"Or it could look like your giving up on everything that you had. Trust me something had to have gone right to keep her from wanting to file divorce papers. If you file them then it's going to tell her that you have no hope and are throwing away everything you have more than sleeping with anyone ever would," Ric said. "Just think about everything before you do anything. Women are to damned complicated."

"You're telling me," Paul agreed.  
-------------------------

"We can't keep going like his. I really like you. I have since I saw you the first time. I haven't felt this way in a long time, but you need to decide where you and Paul stand in this," Chris told her. He wasn't going to end up getting his heart broken again.

"Chris, if I knew where Paul and I stood then you would be one of the first people to know, but I don't," Lorelei had been trying, but hadn't been able to explain the extremely strange relationship between her and Paul. "I love him or at least thought I did, but I really like you too. I don't know things are confusing."

"How the hell do you think I feel? I don't know where you and your husband stand. You've been honest with both of us about each other. It's like I'm sharing you and I'm losing. If something more happened between us I'm sure Paul would know, and you keep telling me you thought you loved him, but you won't even file papers to legally separate from him," Chris said. "This is one messed up triangle, and I can't keep being part of it to only get my heart broken in the end. That's what's going to happen because you and Paul have a history together."

"A history that includes him buying me from my father an cheating on me with the woman he told me he didn't care about. He obviously lied to me. It's not like many people would be able to survive that,": Lorelei said.

"Then why don't you file the papers? It's not like you have anything to stay for. If he loved you he would do something to try to win you back," Chris said.

"He's talked to me and done a few things, but I'm not sure. I don't want to close the door that I might want to keep open in the future," Lorelei tried to explain.

"And I can't keep a door open that I'm constantly afraid will get slammed in my face," Chris said.

"I'm not asking you to stay. Every time we've gone out you've asked me, every time we've done anything you've initiated it. You're the one expecting heartbreak out of this not me. I'm letting what comes come. I can't do more than that right now," Lorelei told him resolving to be honest with him. She was determined not to string anyone along. "I'm not as mature as you are. I don't have the experience under my belt to know exactly what I want and when I want it."

"Right now it seems like all you want is Paul. You're always so willing to do whatever I want like you're trying to keep yourself from thinking about him and loving him. It's not going to work. If you love him your never going to be able to stop no matter what. Trust me I know," Chris said. "You need to chose you can't keep playing the field while your married to Paul. I think you already know that though."

"Could I add how much this sucks because I really don't know what to do. Part of me wants to go back, but the other part won't let me get hurt again, you know self preservation. I don't think I could go through getting crushed again by anyone I care about," Lorelei said. "I know that you're right, and since I'm not ready to file any sort of papers even considering ending my marriage to Paul,. I think I need to do some serious soul searching. I'm not sure what to think now."

"Life isn't always easy. You have to do what makes you happy," Chris said giving her a kiss on the forehead. He didn't waste anytime leaving the room.

Lorelei was left in her locker room wondering how exactly she was going to get away from the mayhem that was constantly the WWE so she could figure this out. She didn't think she had any vacation time coming and where would she go? She'd been spending much of the last several months in hotels even on her vacation time. It was eating a hole in her money, but she couldn't ask anyone else to take her in for break.

She decided to worry about it after the show. She had an important match against Victoria tonight and didn't want to blow it. She was still new enough to get relegated to T&A like she was so set against. She didn't think that she could deal with that along with everything else that was going on right now. She decided to talk to Bischoff or Mr. McMahon if she had to later.  
----------------------

Paul was sitting in the locker room thinking of another way to get Lorelei back, but all the ideas he had wouldn't work. He was almost positive that he hads messed everything up more when he asked Lorelei to mary him again when they were fighting right after she found out about him and Stephanie. At the time it felt like it was the right thing to do.

That night he drove to the hotel obviously distracted. He was doing okay until he saw headlights coming at him.  
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	19. Chapter 19

Never Say Never

Chapter 19

Lorelei had to contemplate things. She thought when she decided to cut Paul out of her life it would be easy to get to a point where she knew what to do; however, life wasn't that easy. She still loved him. How she could love someone she didn't trust was beyond her, but she couldn't deny the fact.

Chris had been right. She wasn't able to live one foot out the door. She had to figure out where she and Paul stand and move on with her life with him or without him. The door being partially opened was no longer working for her.

It took her what seemed like an eternity to fall asleep, but when she did her cell phone rang. "This better be important," she mumbled before she picked up the phone.

"Mrs. Levesque, this is Roni, an ER nurse at Memorial Hospital. Your husband has been in an accident," she said. Lorelei felt a sick feeling in her stomach. She knew right then she was afraid she was going to lose him.

"I'll be right there," Lorelei said before hanging up. She quickly dressed and drove to the hospital. When she got there she filled out all the forms and waited. It seemed like an eternity before a doctor came to talk to her.

"Mrs. Levesque, we've stabilized your husband as much as possible. Right now he's going up to the OR to repair some internal injuries," the doctor said. "I'll take you to the waiting room."

"Is he going to be okay?" Lorelei tentively asked, after the doctor gave her some more information about the injuries he'd received.

"Right now it's hard to tell. The surgeon will know be able to give you something more definite when he finishes," the doctor said.

While she was waiting she realized that no one in Paul's family knew what was going on. Lorelei called his parents and filled them in on the situation. They said they would call his sister and fly out there as soon as they could.

Lorelei didn't have the time or energy to be grateful of the little victory. She'd only seen them once, and hadn't talked to them much more. They didn't hate her yet.

It seemed like forever, but in reality it was only a couple of hours, before the surgeon came out to talk to her. "Mrs. Levesque, your husband is lucky. He didn't sustain as severe internal injuries as we originally though. We've stopped the bleeding," he told her.

"So he's going to be okay?" Lorelei again asked.

"Most likely. There is a slim possibility of infection or the bleeding restarting," the doctor said.

"When can I see him?" Lorelei asked.

"He's in recovery right now, but the anesthesia is still wearing off so he's likely to be sleeping still," the doctor said. "You may see him now if you'd like."

Lorelei saw him on the hospital bed hooked up to countless machines. He wasn't hooked up to as many machines as she has seen her mother hooked up to before she died, but enough to make Lorelei nervous none the less. She hated hospitals.

"Babe, you better get through this. I don't know what I'd do without you. I know you probably don't think it right now, but I still love you. Chris made me see how much I really do love you," Lorelei told him. She watched the sun rise from her hospital room.

---------------

"You have to call her again," Chris told Amy. No one had seen neither hide nor hair of Lorlei since Chris saw her the previous evening.

"You sound concerned for someone who just told her to choose between you or her husband," Trish commented. "She's probably in her room thinking about the situation. She'll probably be out in a few hours to make us think that everything is peachy keen."

"Really, Trish is right. Give her space and time and she'll let you know what she's thinking. She doesn't keep secrets ask Paul," Amy told him.

"I hope your right, I have the feeling that something has rocked her entire world," Chris told the women finally giving up.

The friends hung out for a while and took questions from other concerned friends, especially Jay. Jay was panicking almost as much as Chris had been. It was almost comical.

------------------

It wasn't long after she watched the sunrise that Paul's parents arrived. "Honey, you look like you could use some sleep," Pat told her daughter-in-law.

"I need to be here I can't leave yet. I need to know how he's doing," Lorelei said.

"At least get some food. We'll stay with him until you get back," Pat inisisted.

Lorelei's stomach won out this time. She needed food and decided it was now or never. She also wanted to check her messages. She didn't need all her friends worrying about her right now.

She heard the message that Amy left asking where she was and how she was doing. She heard two people in the background. However, she had only been able to identify Trish, not the unknown Canadian man. She has suspicions of who it was though.

She quickly called Amy back and told her she was at the hospital. When Amy asked why Lorelei revealed that Paul had been in an accident. Amy was sympathetic, but she could tell her friend thought Paul was getting his just desserts.

Lorelei also called Randy, Dave, and Ric to let them know their good friend wouldn't be around for a while, or take Randy's newly won title.

She was more upset about the situation when she heard they're reaction. They were as concerned as she was. They wanted to see him, but she said it was best for them to put on a brave face, even though she wanted them there with her. They needed to keep the people entertained.

They reminded her she needed to call Vince and tell him what was going on. Paul wouldn't be cleared to wrestle for a while and she knew she had to stay with him. As much as she loved her job, she loved him more.

He wasn't exactly thrilled that one of his biggest draws was out for an undetermined length of time, but he had understood about the situation. He also understood Lorelei's decision to stay with her husband. He wasn't thrilled about that one either.

Lorelei wasn't sure, but she didn't think that tomorrow could be any worse that today.

---------------------

Stephanie needed to tell Paul. She couldn't keep it a secret forever. He knew he was going to be beyond angry, but would come to accept the situation, hopefully.

She would have said she had matured enough in the last two months to be concerned with what Lorelei would think of the situation, but she hadn't. Lorelei's feelings about the situation were the least of her concerns at the moment.

"Steph, Paul's been in an accident. Lorelei said he was going to be out for the time being," Vince told his daughter.

"This can't be happening," Stephanie said. "I wanted to tell him I was going to be the mother of his first child."

"Stephanie, if this is another Paul is mine tirade I've got places to go and things to do. Paul hasn't been interested in you in a long time. He probably won't be interested in you now. He loves Lorelei. He's made that more than clear. You may be the mother of his child, but you're not the one he loves," Vince told his daughter. Now maybe it would sink in.

------------------

Shortly after lunch Paul woke up. Lorelei couldn't have been more thrilled. "Wait hon, they had to put a tube down your throat to help you breath. You can't talk at the moment," she told him quickly rummaging through her purse for a paper and pen.

She handed them to him and he quickly scribbled, _What happened?_

"You were in a car accident. I'm not exactly sure of the details," Lorelei told him. "How are you?"

_I hurt like hell,_ he quickly scribbled back.

"The doctor should be around in a minute and I'm sure the tube will come out then we can talk," Lorelei told him while he was busy scribbling another note.

She read the not e and felt good inside. He told her he loved her. "I'd hug you but you just got of surgery recently, so it's probably not a good idea," she told him. "I love you, too."

_I know_, he scribbled back.

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	20. Chatper 20

1Never Say Never

Chapter 20

The next two days Lorelei stayed with Paul in the hospital. She ate and slept there.

"Pumpkin, you need to go take a shower," Paul said. "I know you have a hotel room. Go take a shower and a nap. I'll be okay for a few hours alone."

"I know you just scared the crap out of me. I thought I was going to lose you or something," Lorelei told him.

"I don't plan on leaving any time soon. You of all people should know that," Paul said. "Go, take all the time you need."

"Fine," Lorelei agreed. "I'll be back in a couple of hours."

"See you then," Paul said. "Love you."

Lorelei just blew him a kiss before she left to do whatever she was going to do.

Paul had originally been surprised to see Lorelei. He hadn't expected to see her there with him when he woke up, but there she was watching over him like she always did. He guessed he was just lucky that he found the one. He couldn't believe he had almost lost her.

Shortly after Lorelei left, when he was about to take a nap himself Stephanie came in. Presumably to talk to him about something.

"Look, Paul, I have something to tell you. I'm pregnant," Stephanie said.

"And I need to know this because?" Paul asked remembering the last time Stephanie had told him she was pregnant.

"Because it's our baby," Stephanie told him.

"How do I even know you're pregnant let alone if the baby's mine?" Paul asked. "It's not like you have the best track record with telling the truth."

"Paul, I'm not lieing. I thought you deserved to know your first child is on the way. I wish I could be a bigger person and not care and stay out of your life, but I can't. I don't expect much to come of us. I would hope we can be civil to each other but nothing more.

"When you prove that there is a baby and it's mine, then I'll consider being on civil terms with you. Until then, you can see yourself out."

"Fine, Paul, be that way. I will be back, most likely when Lorelei's around, and prove that this baby is yours. What are you going to do then?" Stephanie asked before leaving.

Paul didn't read too much into it. Stephanie was always making idle threats. He knew this could ruin the fragile truce that he and Lorelei had called. He hoped it was another of her ploys to get him back.

---------------------------

Stephanie expected Paul's reaction. She knew he wasn't going to believe her right away. She'd already screwed that one up. Now she had to prove it to him.

She asked her OB to send a copy of her file to Paul. She knew he would look into her background. Maybe when he saw that she was a legitimate doctor he would believe her. Then she would set about proving the baby was his.

She had to do this. It didn't matter as much if she and Paul got together as much now, later she would worry about that, but right now she wanted her baby to have a father. She surprised herself when she thought of someone beside herself. She just passed it off as the hormones talking.

She decided to got back to thinking of ways to make Paul hers again. He didn't see a sign of Lorelei at the hospital, which she was hoping was a good sign. Lorelei might not care as much about him as everyone thought she did.

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Paul spent five days in the hospital after his accident. The doctor said he needed a few more days to heal up before he rode a plane. He would have to talk about when to return with his regular doctor.

When Paul got out of the hospital, he was more than ready. He was positive he couldn't take any more of the four walls that hospital room. He would have gone crazier than he already was.

Lorelei was also happy that Paul was getting out of the hospital. She had detested being there.

"Thank you for staying with me," Paul told his wife.

"I didn't have anywhere else I would rather have been," Lorelei told him. She knew the hole time they were there he could sense how much she disliked it.

"I honestly didn't think that you would be there when I woke up," Paul said.

"I just came. I stopped thinking with my brain and started thinking with my heart. Obviously, my heart has always been with you. That's why I haven't been able to take any steps to end our marriage," Lorelei said.

"Makes sense I thought about it before realizing it would look like giving up, and I wasn't going to give up," Paul said. "You mean more to me than anything to me." Paul considered telling her what was going on with Stephanie. It would be better than her hearing it from anyone else, but their relationship was so fragile right now. It could ruin everything they had entirely. He also knew the same could happen if he didn't tell her. It could end up being a lose, lose situation.

"Paul, earth to Paul. You zoned out on me for a minute," Lorelei said.

"Sorry. I know you're not going to like this, but Stephanie came by the other day while you were gone," Paul said. "She claimed the baby was mine." Paul could only hope that honesty was the best policy. There wasn't much he could do now.

"Did she have anything to prove it?" Lorelei asked trying to stay calm. She wasn't exactly sure who or what she was angry at, but she needed to be calm.

"No, but I made the mistake of telling her to come back when she had it," Paul said hoping steam wouldn't come out of her ears.

"Paul, you know that there's a possibility she's telling the truth right?" Lorelei asked. "With both of you on the road so much it makes shared custody almost impossible, and I know how much family means to you."

"Honey, we'll cross that bridge when, and if, we come to it," Paul said. "It down do any good worrying about it right now."

"I guess you're right. We'll drive ourselves insane thinking about the what if's," Lorelei said. "I'm afraid to see what the house looks like."

"It isn't that bad. I am able to pick up after myself," Paul told her.

"I'll believe it when I see it," Lorelei said. "You should get some rest. The doctors said you need to spend the next few days getting as much rest as possible."

"I've done nothing but rest for five days. I don't know how much rest I can take," Paul said.

"Sorry, you just don't know when to give up. You always over do things," Lorelei said. "Watch TV or a DVD or something."

Paul just glared at her for a moment before settling in an seeing what was on. "I can still at least watch RAW right?" he asked.

"If you must. No jumping around or anything," Lorelei told him.

"I'm not the one with an inability to set still for more than three minutes, my dear," Paul told his wife.

"Whatever. I have some calls to make," Lorelei said going onto the bedroom of the suite.  
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	21. Chapter 21

Never Say Never

Chapter 21

It had been almost two weeks since Stephanie told him she was pregnant, but now he had to do the DNA test.

This was taking it's toll on Lorelei. She wasn't acting like herself recently. He had to assume that the drama Stephanie caused only stressed her out more and was making her rethink her decision to try and make them work. She hadn't talked to him so he wasn't really sure what she was thinking.

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Lorelei had returned to her habit of holing herself up in the library. She knew Paul was probably having as much trouble with this as she was, but she couldn't help it.

She knew Paul had increasing proof that Stephanie was actually pregnant. She was afraid that if the baby was Paul's she wasn't going to be able to handle it. Things were just beginning to get back to normal, and Stephanie dropped this bombshell on them. She wished that she was a big enough person to be sure that she wouldn't hold anything against this baby. She knew the baby was the innocent one in the messy triangle that had become Paul, Stephanie, and her. She was having more issues than she thought with everything ha was going down recently.

She knew Stephanie had used him, probably in hopes she would get pregnant to win him back. Part of her thought that Paul wouldn't want to share the baby with anyone, including her and Stephanie.

Lorelei took a deep breath and knew she had to go tell Paul this wasn't working, and she really did want this to work. She'd learned one while she was with Chris and that was that she needed Paul She didn't want to alienate him more than she already had.

She went into his office. "What's up?" she asked.

"I'm pretty sure Stephanie's pregnant. We have to figure out if it's mine," Paul told her.

"We haven't talked about it, but what are we going to do if it is yours?" Lorelei asked.

"I don't know," Paul honestly admitted, "but I can't leave Stephanie high and dry with my child."

"Stephanie's going to do everything in her power to use this child to get you back," Lorelei pointed out. She knew that Stephanie wasn't going to change.

"As much as I want this baby to change her, I know it probably won't," Paul said. "That doesn't change that I'm not going to abandon the baby if it is mine."

"Paul, I'm not expecting you to abandon it. I just want to know how we're going to handle everything that goes along with this baby," Lorelei told him. "I'm going to be the one made into a bad guy because Stephanie hates me with a passion, not you."

"I honestly don't know, Lorelei. I know this has been difficult for you, but it hasn't been much easier for me. The whole time we were together Steph didn't want children," Paul told her. "I imagined that it would be us having children, not Stephanie or anyone else."

"I imagined the same thing, but right now things need to calm down before we even think about that," Lorelei told him.

"I know there's nothing that I can do to make this easier on you, but your not the only one who's having trouble with this," Paul said. "Do you think I like the idea of sharing a child with Steph?"

"Paul, I don't' think you like it, but it's hard to accept. Had you conceived this child before I was in the picture it would have been totally different. Right now I feel like the other woman, and I'm your wife. Stephanie is the other woman," Lorelei told him. It was the best way to make him understand what she was feeling.

"I'm sorry that I have a sense of morality. First, I was a cold hearted bastard, now the sense of morality is getting in our way. What am I supposed to do?" Paul asked. He was getting angry. He as trying to be understanding and she as being a bitch.

"I want Stephanie out of our lives. Is that to much to ask for?" Lorelei asked. She knew she wasn't being as rational as she should, but she'd put up with Paul's moodiness for a long time.

"Well that doesn't exactly look promising does it? There has to be reasonable cause to take the baby from Stephanie," Paul said.

"And her actions in the last four or five months haven't been reasonable cause?" Lorelei retorted. "She's only going to use the baby to get you back and continue to make my life a living hell."

"Look, we don't even know if the baby's mine. We can talk about it when we know for sure. It's not going to do us any good stressing over it until we know for sure," Paul said. he knew Lorelei had a point, but he still thought it was pointless arguing about it at the moment. It put both of them under to much stress.

"You're right," Lorelei said. "What's up for tonight?"

"Well I thought we could go upstairs and watch a movie," Paul said. "I didn't plan on going out tonight."

"Sounds good," Lorelei said. "What kind of movie?"

"Don't care," Paul said already starting up the stairs.

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A couple weeks later Stephanie seen Paul, who wasn't wrestling just yet just doing promos, and Lorelei together around the arena, and she instantly sensed that both of them seemed stressed out. She knew exactly how hard it was for a relationship to recover from one person being unfaithful. Hers never recovered from it.

She almost felt bad for Lorelei, but remembered the disrespect that Lorelei had shown her. She couldn't remember the woman saying one polite thing to her ever. The last time they talked, the woman hadn't been rude, but she hadn't been nice either.

Lorelei admitted Stephanie won, but Lorelei was the one he was holding tonight not her. Lorelei had thrown her off track. This meant war. Stephanie never intended on giving up.

Professionally Lorelei was headed toward a onscreen relationship with Randy Orton, who wasn't on HHH's good side. Paul was just as jealous as the character he played. It would only be a matter of time before Lorelei and Randy were caught in an innocent but compromising position that Paul wouldn't think of as so innocent. Stephanie knew all about those things.

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Lorelei was getting back into the game, but Paul couldn't work in the ring for two or three more weeks, but he was doing promos and stuff.

She wasn't sure that she liked the idea of being in an onscreen relationship with the man she considered her brother. It was kind of really weird. She knew it may give him and her a little more prestige both of them being young champions. Hell, she was the youngest woman's champion ever at barely 21, and as had been well documented Randy was the youngest world champion ever.

She knew that Stephanie had something to do with the current story line. She was probably hoping that Lorelei and Randy got caught in some compromising position or other. It would be expected.

Lorelei wasn't sure what to think about the situation at hand. She had to get over this rut that she and Paul were in. Maybe if they took the honeymoon that they never had then it would help. They deserved it.

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Paul didn't understand what was going on between Randy and Lorelei. He knew Randy and Lorelei wouldn't do anything behind his back, but he couldn't help the jealousy that was creeping up. He was never the type to share well. He knew that by the end of this story line she was going to be absolutely crazy.

"What does my beautiful wife has planned for tonight?" Paul asked.

"I just thought that I would work out," Lorelei told him with a smirk.

"You know, I know a great work out," Paul said. "Want to see what it is?"

"Something tells me we've tried this work out before," Lorelei said before taking the initiative to kiss him.


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: Thank you all so much for reviewing. There are like 100 reviews. Bingo Baby was the 100th reviewer. Anyway here's a quick thanks to everyone who's reviewed. Thanks.

Never Say Never

Chapter 22

Paul and Lorelei were both on edge. In the next couple days the doctor that Paul had found would have the results of the DNA test in. Things would either very slowly get to go back to normal or things would change forever. There wasn't going to be a happy in between. Paul knew that. Lorelei knew that. It was something that they might have to accept.

Paul noticed that despite her attempts to be positive about it and figure out constructive solutions whatever the DNA test said, it wasn't working very well. He wasn't even really finding a way that he, Lorelei, and Stephanie could really make this situation work. The emotions just ran to deep for them to push aside, even for an innocent child.

"So," Lorelei said trying to ease the tension, "you excited to be able to get in the ring Monday?" That was a safe subject for the moment.

"Don't you know it. The only thing that I'll miss is not having you by my side," Paul said. He knew that it was easier talking about this than anything going on in their personal life. "I don't like you getting the story line with Randy. I don't like you being in a story line with anyone."

"I'm not exactly comfortable with it either, but what can we do?" Lorelei asked. "I feel weird pretending to be the love interest of someone who I considered a brother. It's something we're going to have to deal with. We knew we would end up being in story lines with other people."

"Yeah, I guess it will happen eventually. Now you'll hear the crowd chanting your name instead of derogatory remarks," Paul said. "It's more of a rush when you make them love you than when you make them hate you for normal people."

"I'll miss the chants thought. It was fun being able to prove that I could make people hate me. People always said I was so quiet and sweet. I guess like you I'm not exactly a normal person," Lorelei told him.

"I know you're anything except normal. I mean you somehow managed to make me fall in love with you, especially after Stephanie," Paul told him. "I know that we'll make it no matter what anyone trys to do to get us apart."

"I still feel like pushing her down the stairs or something," Lorelei honestly admitted, "but I won't because it would be stooping to her level." She was mentally cursing her morals. She wanted so badly to get some sort of revenge.

"I know. Remember what goes around comes around. She'll get hers eventually. You can be there to laugh at her when that happens," Paul reassured. "Things always catch up with people."

"Then what about you Mr. I'm-The-Game?" Lorelei said. "You've done some pretty cruel stuff even out of the ring."

"This would be the getting what I deserve," Paul said. "Whether or not the baby's mine the tension and stress and everything is my just desserts. Well that, and having you out of my life for the few weeks you were dating Chris. That just drove me absolutely insane."

"You should thank Mr. Irvine. He's the one that made me realize that I wasn't ready to call us quits yet," Lorelei said knowing that would drive him even more insane.

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Stephanie was waiting anxiously. She was almost positive that this baby couldn't be anyone except Paul's, but a few nights after the thing with Paul she was drunk and wasn't exactly sure that had gone on. She knew that was the one downfall she had. She could only pray that she had done something to deserve that things go her way.

She had dropped the subject of Paul with pretty much everyone that was still close to her, as she knew that it was driving lots of them absolutely crazy. She decided that right now she needed all the allies and support that she could get. That little bitch that Paul felt the compelling need to take back still might be able to convince him that he didn't need her or the baby in his life, or she could get pregnant, then Stephanie knew that Paul would choose Lorelei over her.

Stephanie was honestly going to go crazy pretty soon. She hated the fact that at the rate she was going she was going to end up being the other woman forever. She knew that this baby wasn't goinh to make Paul want her. She'd messed that up on her own. The hormones had messed with the way she as thinking. She had yet to come up with an idea of how to get Paul back. It was rather annoying. She didn't think that anything good was going to come of this.

Mabye it would have been best for her to just kept this to herself, and she would have figured out a way to do this on her own. Then she wouldn't be feeling the strange emotion that she was feeling. She thought it was guilt. She didn't need this right now. She didn't need any of the unfamiliar emotions that she was feeling right now.

She needed something to wash away the many emotions she was feeling. She wished a simple bubble bath would to the trick but she knew that it wouldn't. She was going to scream or something, but that wouldn't really do anything to help her make sense out of anything that was going on.

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That night was rather interesting for Paul and Lorelei. For the first time ever they got to pretend they hated each other. For Lorelei it took all she had in her to get through the whole live segment without cracking a smile. The moment seh was behind the curtian she was laughing. She coudln't beleive that she just got away with calling her husband an asshole and there as nothing that he could do about it.

Paul however didn't find it quite so funny. Maybe because he knew that there was a time that had hinted at it and mean it. She had practically called him an ass the first time they met. It wasn't as funny as Lorelei was making it out to be. Though he had to admit that it was hard to be serious at repeating the names that he had told the fans more times than he could count that she wasn't. It was hard to not smile at her and just smirk in her direction.

"That was great guys," Randy said. "It was really convincing. I'd hate to see if you two really hated each other."

"I'm not going to comment. I'd probably get myself into more trouble than it's worth," Paul said.

"Me either," Lorelei agreed. "What happens after your match tonight?"

"The one that I'm supposed to try and convince you to not come out with? The one that Paul's supposed to win," Randy asked though he knew that she didn't need any clarification.

"No the match that you're supposed to have to shade you head over," Lorelei said sarcastically. "What match did you think I was talking about?"

"Your supposed to comfort me and we're supposed to have a romantic kiss. It's pretty lame I know, but I didn't write the stuff," Randy said. "It's kind pretty strange, and I'd rather not end up dead sometime tonight."

"You won't. I know it wasn't your idea. However, if that ever ever gets out then I will have to kill you," Paul said. "I do have a repuation to worry about, and if you ruin that then you'll regret it."

"That almost sounded like a threat, but you wouldn't hurt me,"Randy said. "She wouldn't let you hurt me, at least to much."

"You think that he listens to me?" Lorelei asked. "If you think he does you've got another thing coming. He doesn't listen to anyone even himself sometimes." Lorelei just smirked at her husband.

"You're asking for it," Paul said with a smirk, and Randy just left. They were getting way to mushy for his tastes.

Lorelei and Paul continued thier conversation in between making out. They knew it wasn't appropriate behavior for the workplace, but they were still in newly wed mode.

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	23. Chapter 23

Never Say Never

Chapter 23

Paul held the envelope in his hand. Part of him wanted to open it so he and Lorelei could rebuild and move on; the other part of him thought he was better of not knowing.

He wanted to know what was going on before Lorelei. He wanted to tell her, not let her read it off some paper. He took a deep breath and opened the envelope.

He gulped. This wasn't going to be as easy as he had hoped. He wished he could go back in time and went to find Lorelei that night. He hated that hindsight was 20/20.

This could wait until after the show. He didn't want to distract her from what she had to do. She was fighting one of the guys tonight. She was fighting Batista. She'd slapped Eric Bischoff in the face the previous week, and this was his retribution.

"Don't worry about tonight," Lorelei said coming into the room noticing the envelope that was half hidden behind Paul's back. "Dave knows what he's doing. After we get back to the hotel you can tell me about whatever is in that envelope."

"I know, it's just you're a little rag doll compared to Batista," Paul said trying to get the attention off the contents of the envelope."

"Most people are small compared to Dave," Lorelei pointed out. "He won't do anything to purposely hurt me."

"You know how many things could go wrong though. You're not used to falling that far, and there are some pretty rough spots written in the match," Paul said.

"Paul, there isn't much I can do about it. It's a storyline and I'm sure Stephanie isn't going to change her mind," Lorelei said. "I have to do this, and I trust Dave completely. I'll be fine."

"I still don't like the idea," Paul said. "I want you to be safe and everything. Dave is a professional, but you know how he gets when he's in the zone."

"Not like it all you want; I'm going to go change and practice with Dave," Lorelei told him.

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Paul finally found Dave and warned him about what was written for that night. He also reminded the larger man to be careful with his wife.

Dave laughed a little at his friend's reaction and promised to be as careful as he could. He knew that this wasn't going to be easy.

"Relax, things will be fine," Dave said noting his friend's edge.

"I got the results today. I don't want to talk about that right now though," Paul said.

"I'm sure we'll know soon enough," Dave said. "One of you will tell one or more of us."

"Yeah, I totally need to relax. I believe my wife is looking on you," Paul said. "She wants to practice and get used to being in the ring with you I guess. Don't ask me what's going on in her head; I don't even know half the time."

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Lorelei was sparing with Lisa Marie in the ring when she saw Dave.

"Rumor has it you're lookin for me," he snickered playfully.

"Yeah, you know run through our match and stuff tonight," Lorelei said. "Paul seems pretty worried about it."

"I don't blame him," Dave said. "I wouldn't want Angie to get into the business."

"If you're ready Big Man lets go," Lorelei said stopping him before he could go any further with that statement.

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That night Lorelei was so sore. She'd done everything the way she should have and Dave had been careful. Paul had been right about the match being rough.

"Need a massage?" Paul asked. He knew he had to tell her about the test results he just wanted to wait as long as humanly possible.

"Only if you tell me what was in the envelope," Lorelei told him. She really wanted to know.

"Fine," Paul said. He concentrated on massaging her sore and stiff muscles for a few moments. "The baby's mine," he told her.

Lorelei wished almost any other words would have come from his mouth than those. Lorelei wasn't sure what she was supposed to do. Every time she and Paul had talked about the situation they ended up arguing; now they had to face it head on. Their marriage depended on it. She honestly wanted Stephanie out of their lives once and for all.

Paul hated the situation. It was the control freak in him. Lorelei and Stephanie had all the control in this situation. He didn't want to lose Lorelei. He almost lost her once and he felt like dieing.

"Don't worry we'll be able to figure this out. It's something we'll be able to pull through," Paul said unsure of the certainty of that statement.

"Paul, every time the subject is brought up we end up fighting. How on earth are we going to get through this?" Lorelei asked.

"We have six months to figure it out," Paul said. "It'll take time, but we can make it work."

"Paul, I still think we need to get Stephanie out of our lives," Lorelei said. "I don't mean you abandoning the baby, but maybe trying to get full custody without Steph having visitations."

"Lorelei, lets talk about this later. Lets start with how to deal with Stephanie for the next six months," Paul said knowing this was an extremely sensitive subject.

"I guess I can try to be civil. I'll try and hold my tongue and not cause to much stress," Lorelei said. "She just gets on my every nerve."

"She knows how to get on everyone's nerves, but right now she needs all the peace she can get," Paul said continuing his massage.

Lorelei didn't mention that it was comments like that that made her feel like how Stephanie should be feeling right now. She didn't want to spend the night arguing with him, especially when he was trying to be a good person. She had to keep reminding herself he was only doing the right thing.

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Stephanie was thrilled about the test results. She almost had a plan to get Paul to come back to her. She wanted him, and she was the Billion Dollar Princess. She always got what she wanted. It was something she absolutely loved.

Most people thought that she only wanted Paul back because Lorelei was in the picture, but honestly she loved him as much as a McMahon could love another person. He knew he obviously still loved her in some way since he turned to her when he was pissed at Lorelei.

The person she felt sorry for, as much as she disliked her, was Lorelei. She just happened to be the person caught in the middle of this mess. Stephanie knew she would have to put on her hard bitchy exterior to pull this off. She wanted Paul more than she wanted anything.

She took out her cell and decided to call Paul, and see how he was dealing with everything. She wasn't surprised when he didn't answer. If the roles were reversed she wouldn't answer either.

She gave up for the time being. She wasn't sure for how ling, but she needed to regain Paul's trust again. In hindsight the last way, though giving her a child, wasn't really the most effective way to go about getting what she wanted. Maybe she needed to find an ally of sorts.

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The next morning was tense, but Paul and Lorelei somehow managed to talk civilly about what to do for the next six months. They didn't get further before their friends began to arrive.

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That evening after the promo shoots Lorelei stopped to talk to Randy. She needed to talk to someone who was fairly distanced from the situation and could give her semi objective advice.

"Hey, Randy, can we talk?" Lorelei asked.

"Sure," Randy said.

"Steph's baby is Paul's, and he basically told me to play nicely. I don't know what to do," Lorelei said.

"Talk to him," Randy suggested.

"I've tried before and we end up arguing more. I don't know if I can take six months of this much stress," Lorelei said.

"Then don't. You have to make yourself feel good before you can make anyone else feel good. It works the same way with happiness," Randy said.

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	24. Chapter 24

Never Say Never

Chapter 24

The last few months have been hell for Lorelei. Stephanie was almost six months pregnant now, and Lorelei was sick of her invading every aspect of the life she and Paul had built. The frustration and stress caused Lorelei to again retreat to her sanctuary of the library more often than not lately. She knew that it wasn't helping the situation any, but it was taking all she had in her to not push the woman down the stairs or something equally violent. It wouldn't help her any if she did something that insane.

She knew that, despite their history, there wasn't anything physical going on between Paul and Stephanie, but it wasn't helping calm her that much. When Paul came to check on her like he did every so often he seemed almost happy to be away from Stephanie and whatever was going on in her head to get him back.

"Paul, we have to do something. This just isn't working," Lorelei told him one evening. Stephanie had gone out of her way to get on Lorelei's nerves that afternoon for the millionth time. It was getting too much. Nerves can only be frazzled so far before they break and cause someone to so something totally insane. "I can't keep going this way. She will drive me insane."

"It's only for a few more months and everything will calm down," Paul reassured his wife. He hoped that she would believe that. He didn't really have too many words of encouragement to offer her because honestly he was feeling the same way she was, only he couldn't do anything about it. Stephanie was going to have his baby. He couldn't change that as much as he wanted to do it.

"That's easy for you to say. It's like the woman wants me to be the bad person, and I can't do this anymore. She wants me to hurt her or the baby so that I'll be a monster in your eyes. I will literally go crazy if things don't change. I know that you're trying to be the nice guy and everything, but something has to give. I feel like I'm sharing this marriage, and I'm losing," Lorelei told him. She'd considered just leaving since she had so places she could go on such short notice, but decided to give Paul a chance to see what he would do about the situation.

"I'm trying to do the right thing, and I know this hasn't been easy for you. Hell, it hasn't been easy for me either. The woman drives me insane, too. I know that you're doing your best to keep whatever little bit of sanity that I haven't taken yet," Paul said. "If you need to leave for a while then I would completely understand." He knew that he would be hurt, but seeing her hurting the way she was right now hurt him more. He knew he would also be jealous. He was just that type of person and the two most likely people she would go with were Randy or Mike. He wasn't thrilled with either prospect. In fact there wasn't anything aside from her leaving at all that he cold be less thrilled about.

"I don't know what I'm going to do, but staying here doesn't look to promising right now either," Lorelei said. She had hoped that he would be just a little more sensitive to her needs than what Stephanie claimed to need. It was so infuriating that she felt like she was losing the man that she loved to a woman who wanted nothing more than the power and privilege that he could bring to her. She was using him and the only thing more infuriating than that was the fact that he as totally falling for everything that she was telling him. He was inadvertently taking her side over his own wife.

"I don't know what I can say to change your mind," Paul said. "But if I did know I would say it in a heart beat."

Lorelei knew that, that was supposed to comfort her, but it didn't. She was feeling even more depressed and crazy knowing that he had no idea how to make her stay. He was supposed to know her better than anyone else in this world. He was supposed to love her and protect her and honor her. He was supposed to put her needs about anyone else's. Those were all things that he had willingly entered into when they got married. "Paul, I can't stay. I'm leaving in the morning," Lorelei said. She felt like she was going to cry. She just left the room to get some stuff packed and find a place to stay. And she would probably end up crying somewhere where he would never find out that she had shed a tear over him

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Paul didn't know how he was supposed to feel. He knew that Lorelei's decision to leave was based a lot on the fact that he wasn't willing to change anything to accommodate her, but honestly he hadn't changed that much to accommodate Stephanie either. He didn't understand what she was feeling. He wasn't sure what she was even thinking these days, and it wasn't due to lack of trying either. He had spent many nights awake just trying to think of things from her point of view. It wasn't working to well.

He knew that Lorelei was emotional and he didn't want her to do anything that she would regret later. That's why he wasn't going to argue with her when she said she was leaving. He knew that it was probably stupid, but hoped it would make things better in the long run. He knew that nothing he said now could change her mind anyway. She was just as headstrong as he was.

He was honestly getting sick of Stephanie himself, but he couldn't leave her alone. What if something happened and the baby got hurt? He would never be able to forgive himself. He'd explained all this to Lorelei before, but obviously she was having just as much trouble imagining herself standing in his shoes as he was standing in hers. He knew that if asked almost anyone she knew would take her in and keep her as safe as possible. The person would probably be beyond pissed at him, but he could deal with that when the time came.

Now he just had to figure out how to deal with Stephanie without having his away time to talk to Lorelei in the library. He needed her more than she realized. He needed her more than he realized.. He wished just telling her he didn't want to leave would help. He figured it was worth a shot.

"You know how I said I wouldn't mind if you decided to leave?" Paul asked entering the master bedroom.

"Don't tell me you're taking it back because I'm still leaving. I don't have anything to stay for," Lorelei said. "You're too wrapped up in Stephanie's needs to do anything about what I need. I can't do this anymore. I know that I said I would stand beside you, but I can't; it wasn't realistic. I wasn't a realistic promise to make. I'm sorry that I can't keep it, but I really did try."

"I will still understand if you leave, but I don't want you to go," Paul said. "I know that Stephanie's been running our lives right now, but when the baby comes it will all change. Things will slowly begin to revert back to some semblance of normal."

"I can't wait that long Paul. I've waited for months. I've spent too much time waiting for a miracle that isn't going to come. If I don't leave now, I'll end up doing something that you could never forgive me for, and something I would never be able to forgive myself for," Lorelei said. "We've already made it through more than most couples would ever dream."

"So now you're giving up? I'm sorry that I haven't always made things between us easy, but you haven't exactly always made it easy either," Paul said. "I know I've done more to destroy what we have than any one person would be able to fix, but at least let me try."

"All you are any more is pretty words. Reassuring words. Words that you think that I want to hear. Reassuring words won't help keep my sanity. Pretty words won't undo what has already been done. What I want to hear isn't always going to happen no matter what we do to try," Lorelei said. "As I told the princess, you don't just rip someone's heart out then expect them to gladly hand it back to you."

"I don't expect to have you hand your heart back to me. I want to win it back," Paul said. "You're the one that's making it impossible to move past this all the time. I don't know what you want me to do."

"I want you to prove to me that I'm your wife, not her. I don't feel like you love me at all. Most of your free time is spent with her and aside from making sure I eat and sleep you don't do anything with me anymore. You hardly speak to me more than a few words. You don't even just sit with me the way you used to," Lorelei said.

"I can't make Stephanie leave. She's going to have my baby and I want to be there for my baby. It will know," Paul said. He knew that everything was going to be placed on him like it had so many times before. He admitted to himself that he deserved most of the blame, but he wasn't sure why Lorelei decided to come back if she couldn't put this all behind her.

"As long as Stephanie's here I can't stay. I know this is going to sound incredibly selfish, but right now I need to think about my wants and my needs. Paul, as much as I want to and as much as I love you I can't stay," Lorelei told him. She knew shew as practically giving him an ultimatum, but she didn't care at this point. She wanted either Stephanie to be out or her. She wasn't going to talk it any other way.

"Then at least tell me where are you going?" Paul said. He didn't like this, but he wasn't going to give her up without a fight.

"It doesn't matter where I'm going. When you decide what you want and what you value then you can come find me," Lorelei said. "I have things that I need to pack. I'm leaving first thing in the morning."

"So it doesn't matter that I don't want you to go. It doesn't matter that you're my wife. The one that I have gone to bat for more than once. Lorelei, I wasn't the only one who went into marriage vows willingly."

"Willingly? If I remember correctly, you were the one who bought the right to marry me from my father without my knowledge. Then you alienate me from everything that you do until suddenly I can help you out of a bind with none other than Stephanie. The first time one of my friends needs me more than you, you go behind my back. You were the one who said our marriage vows weren't worth anything," Lorelei told him feeling her temper rise. "I'm the innocent one in this whole mess. I refuse to be part of this wacked out triangle anymore."

"What if I don't want you to be out. I want you in my life. I need you more than I need water," Paul said.

"Again pretty words. Your words don't mean anything to me Paul. You've told me more words than I can count and they're just that words. You don't do anything to back them up. You told me that we would make it through this when we first found out, but you go and invite Stephanie to stay here until the baby is born. Actions speak louder than words," Lorelei said. "I deserve someone who won't play me second fiddle so to speak."

"Fine, you know what? Obviously I can't make you happy, so just go. I don't to be with someone who feels forced to be with me," Paul said.

"That didn't stop you when we first met, but it doesn't matter what you want," Lorelei told him. "What matters right now is what I want." Lorelei didn't give him a chance to respond before she when to get her things together.

-------------

Stephanie knew that Paul and Lorelei were fighting over her presence in their life. She knew that the tension that could be cut with a knife was her handy work. She wished that she could be more proud of it, but she was actually again facing the inner battle that seemed to be more persistent that ever before.

She blamed it on the hormones that were running through her system right now. She was doing what was best for Paul, the baby, and her. She had to keep telling herself that she wouldn't break down and just leave. She knew that Paul wanted to honestly be part of their baby's life. She also knew that Lorelei had taken more than any one woman should ever be able in the name of love.

Things would end up the way they were supposed to be, and if Paul was just letting Lorelei leave than he didn't love her as much as he though or as much as Lorelei obviously thought.

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Review please.


	25. Chapter 25

Disclaimer: I haven't done one of these in a while so I thought I would remind you that I still don't own anyone except Lorelei. I am simply borrowing the rest for my own amusement, and hopefully yours

Never Say Never

Chapter 25

It had been two weeks since Lorelei had left, and Paul honestly was pretty miserable. He knew what he had to do to begin the process, that would inevitably be hard and most likely unsuccessful, but he couldn't bring himself to make Stephanie leave. He knew he had gotten himself into this mess from his own choices, but he couldn't undo it without going absolutely crazy.

Stephanie, as much as he hated it, was going to have his child, and he wanted to be there every step of the way. The baby would know if he wasn't there and it would be one more barrier in a normal father child relationship.

Paul told himself at first that Lorelei had just needed some time to calm down and that she would come back, but she wasn't here yet. He honestly didn't think that she would ever come back. If he made Stephanie leave it wasn't a sure fire bet that he could fix the already complicated relationship that he and Lorelei had. He wanted something that was sure right now, and the only thing he had for sure was the baby.

He had hardly seen Lorelei even a work. They didn't have many things to shoot together now that Randy was getting all the attention in that onscreen duo. Lorelei had been almost reduced to his lackey who distracted the ref or his opponent, usually Paul. She had only defended the title once since she won it. That time they scripted her to cheat to win, even though she and Randy were faces.

--------------

Lorelei was thoroughly convinced that Paul wasn't ever going to come for her. She knew that he would need a few days for everything to sink in, that was just the way it was, but she had been imposing on Mike and Rebecca's space for nearly two weeks now.

Part of her was happy he hadn't come to Mike and Rebecca's but they were in the same freaking place as each other three to four nights a week. She hadn't made herself hard to find. She even told people that if he asked to let him know where she was. It was as annoying as hell knowing that he was right there, but still hadn't come to find her.

It was also depressing. She gave him everything she had, and he obviously wanted Stephanie. She should have seen it coming, Stephanie had more power, wealth and beauty than she could ever have dreamed of having. It had been pointless to let Paul come back. She knew that Stephanie would just come back and eventually win. Maybe Stephanie deserved to win. She was just a fool for even trying. She should have let Stephanie have him a long time ago. They deserve each other.

She wasn't sure of her place anymore. She had come to think of herself as Paul's wife ore than any other role in her life. It was Paul who got her everything she had now. If she wasn't Mrs. Levesque then she wouldn't have the respect and the spot in the company she did now. She might have been able to get herself a developmental contract, but no way would she have been able to get herself all that she had now in such a short time. Everyone defined her as Paul's wife. Even if someone didn't know her name they knew she was Mrs. Levesque.

"Just go to him and tell talk to him," Rebecca told her. "I know that you think that would be him winning, but your miserable without him."

"Why? If he loved me he would have followed me to the ends of the earth like I would have done for him," Lorelei said. "Why make a fool of myself again and go back? I can make a fool of myself enough without following a lost cause."

"Maybe he's just giving you your space. Maybe he thinks that when you calm down you'll come back," Rebecca told her.

"I told him when he gets his priorities straight to come find me; how much more clear could I get?" Lorelei asked. "I refuse to let him make a fool of me again. I can't let him walk all over me."

"Is it really worth making yourself miserable about? You can't deny that you're unhappy; everyone can see it on your face. Even people who barely know you know that you're miserable. It's written in your eyes," Rebecca said. "And you haven't been exactly nice to people the way that you used to."

"I don't care. I can't go through this again. I can't let Stephanie be the center of his world, and me be the other woman. I'm his wife damn it. I don't mean to sound selfish, but my patience is extremely thin at the moment," Lorelei said.

"He knows that you're his wife, but he feels the need to take care of his own also. It's a natural instinct. If Mike found out that he had a child from before he met me then he would do anything in his power to get to know the child. It's the way the world works. Unfortunately, right now Paul's own is growing inside Stephanie. He's not making Stephanie the center of his world; he's making the baby the center of his world," Rebecca said. She knew from just seeing both Paul and Lorelei that they were absolutely miserable.

"That doesn't make it any better because every time I'm around Stephanie I feel the urge to push her down the steps or something equally violent. I'm not a violent person, but that woman brings out the worst in me. That's only going to get me into trouble, because she's a bitch and wants me to be the bad guy," Lorelei said. "This is a no win situation. I know that, so I'll sulk for a while then see what I can do about moving on."

"Whatever. I can't make you do anything. I can only tell you what I see," Rebecca said. "I'm going to go watch Mike's match. Catch you later."

Lorelei knew that her friend was trying to be helpful, but she didn't know very much of the history between the couple. Lorelei also knew that much of what the older woman was telling her might be true.

--------------

Stephanie knew that she wasn't winning. Lorelei's physical presence might be out of Paul's life for the moment, but he was miserable without her. It was like he needed her to keep him from going off the deep end. He was back to his cruel, at times manipulative self that he was before Lorelei, and Stephanie wasn't sure she could take it.

For the first time some serious doubt was crossing her mind that her and Paul weren't meant for each other. All the other doubts she had she'd been able to pin on hormones, but this was different. It was like a sinking feeling in the pit of her heart. No matter how long Lorelei stayed away, she would be the one that Paul constantly thought about.

Lorelei would be the name that would at least come to his mind, if not his lips when he was having an intimate experience. It was just the way that it would be.

Stephanie decided that there were two things she could do like always: She could back down and let Stephanie win, which wasn't ideal, but would make everyone except her happier, or she could keep going and know that Paul was only with her because Lorelei had left and she was the one that was carrying his baby. That would be pure hell, but at least she would be with the man she loved.

As she thought about it, she he realized that it was a no win situation. Nothing that she could do would actually bring both her and Paul lasting happiness. She didn't know why she even tried to win him back. She should have known that something like this was going to happen. It was stupid of her not to think of the consequences.

--------------

Paul was sure that he couldn't get more miserable if he tried and he had been taking it out on everyone. He'd tried to keep his frustration and miserableness in the gym, but it hadn't been working very well. Even Stephanie was keeping her distance right now. The woman who would never leave wasn't paying all that much attention to him.

He knew that things were going downhill in every aspect of his life, even professionally. He was distracted, but worse he was unable to pull his focus back. He knew that everyone else could see that he wasn't at the top of his game and he knew that by now everyone backstage probably knew that he and Lorelei were on the rocks more than they had ever been which he didn't think was possible without loosing her.

He was so unsure so he went back to being cold and cruel to everyone that came near him. It was easier to keep everything except his own personal torment out that way. He knew that he was regaining his old reputation, but he honestly didn't care. Lorelei was the one who had changed his old reputation, not him. Lorelei was the only one who brought out the fact that he wasn't a cold, calculated bastard, and now he'd gone and lost the best thing that he had going for him.

He knew that as a result of his actions everyone who was close to him, even Ric and Dave were pulling away. Dave was pissed at him as was Ric. They had come to think of Lorelei as family and he'd hurt her in the worst way possible, and was continuing to hurt her, but he couldn't chose. It was like putting one part of his family over another. He knew that Lorelei hadn't intended it that way. She never wanted to hurt anyone even him.

It was too complicated for him to think about right now. He had to find something to do so he began lifting weights again and turned the music up as loud as it would go not caring who he disturbed.


	26. Chapter 26

Disclaimer: I thought I'd let you know that the song used is Holy Water by Big and Rich, and I don't own that any more than I own anything else you recognize in my story.

Never Say Never

Chapter 26

Randy was concerned. It wasn't like he was at the top of Mike's list, so when the man called him and said that he was concerned about Lorelei, Randy knew it was bad. He wasn't sure what state he would find one of his best friends in. He wasn't sure that he wanted to see her, but she needed someone there with her.

_Somewhere there's a stolen halo  
I used to watch her wear it well.  
Everything would shine wherever she would go  
But lookin at her now you'd never tell.  
Someone ran away with her innocence;  
A memory she can't get out of her head.  
And I can only imagine what she's feelin when she's pray'n  
Kneeling at the edge of her bed.  
_

Randy got to Mikes house and wasn't sure what to make of Lorelei. She greeted him and put on happy face, but it wasn't the same. She didn't smile or say more than a couple words to him or anyone else for that matter. There was something missing. She was walking around like a shell of herself. That only made him even more angry at Paul for doing this to her. She didn't deserve any of it.

She didn't smile or do more than greet him before taking off. Mike told him that all she had been doing lately was locking herself up alone assumingly doing anything that she possibly could to keep herself from thinking of Paul. Randy knew that the man had taken her innocence both figuratively and literally, and he couldn't blame her for not getting the memory out of her head. If he were screwed with that why he wasn't sure he would be much better off than she was now. He was her everything and now she had nothing

_And she says - take me away  
And take me farther  
Surround me now,  
And hold - hold - hold me like holy water holy water_

Randy watched and silently followed her and hoped that she would let him in on whatever ritual she had. If he knew one thing about her, it was that there was always some sort of ritual. She needed the structure it provided. There was something that she was running from that was more than just what it was.

Lorelei was trying desperately to run from everything that was haunting her, but there wasn't a place for her to go. The fantasy land that books had provided her since she was a little girl was no longer a distraction, but a reminder. A reminder of the fairytale that had almost been her and Paul. She couldn't do anything to get this out of her mind. It was taking everything she had not to fly back. She wouldn't forgive Paul, but at least she would have someone to hold her and comfort her. He must know what he did was wrong by now.

_She wants someone to call her angel,  
Someone to put the light back in her eyes,  
She's looking through the faces and the unfamiliar places  
She needs someone to hear her when she cries._

Randy didn't say a word, just watched her and he knew almost instantly that she needed someone to hold her and to make her smile the way she used to. The way Paul used to before he got stupid and took everything away from her. Something that Randy could only hope that Paul would never get back.

He saw her begin to cry and his heart broke. He hated to see anyone cry, but this was even worse. She was like an angel to him, and angels just don't cry. He knew that somewhere he liked Lorelei as more than a friend, but he was going to respect her wishes and let her take control. It wasn't his place to do anything more. He was however going to take her with him to St. Louis. It might do her good to see someplace new.

_And she says - take me away  
And take me farther  
Surround me now,  
And hold - hold - hold me like holy water  
_

"Princess, come with me to St. Louis for a while," Randy said making his presence known. He couldn't take any more of the crying or heartbreak that was radiating off of her. He wanted to take her away from all this. He didn't want her to feel like she was intruding on something.

"Take me away," was all that Lorelei could manage to say through her tears. She wasn't sure if she would ever stop crying, even though she wanted to just be all cried out.

_She just needs a little help to wash away the pain she's felt  
She wants to feel the healing hands of someone who understands  
_

Randy just held her for a while. He didn't talk to her because he honestly had no idea how she felt. He was happy that he had never been betrayed the way that Paul, the man she loved more than anything, had betrayed her. He didn't want to take her too soon. He knew that this was going to be a delicate process. He didn't want to make her any more upset than she already was, if that was possible.

_And she says - take me away  
And take me farther  
Surround me now,  
And hold - hold - hold me  
And she says  
Take me away  
And take me farther  
Surround me now,  
And hold - hold - hold me like holy water  
Like holy water, like holy water, like holy water_

It took a while for Lorelei to regain her composure, but when she did she was more than ready to leave. It wasn't that she didn't like staying with Mike and Rebecca, it was that she felt like an intruder no matter how many times they told her otherwise. She also knew that Randy would take care of her and not treat her like she would shatter at any moment.

--------------

Please Review. And thank you to all the many reviewers that keep coming back and reviewing again and again. It makes my job a little easier.


	27. Chapter 27

A/N: I know the last chapter seemed kind of random, but I promise it will fit in somehow. I honestly haven't figured out how yet, but it will.

Chapter 27

Stephanie was sick of Paul's foul temper. He'd been like this for weeks and noone or nothing could change his mood. She was beginning to think that she should leave like Lorelei did.

"Steph, what's for dinner?" Paul asked sharply.

"I don't know. I didn't plan on being here. I'm leaving, so you can go find Lorelei. You need her, and I'm sure she needs you," Stephanie said. "I'm stepping out and letting you be happy, and your not.

"Stephanie, you need someone to stay with you until the baby is born," Paul protested unable to stop. He wanted to wish her well and make her go. Unfortunately, his baby was currently residing inside her.

"Paul, when I get to New York City Shane will be there, and my parents won't be that far away," Stephanie said. "I'll make sure someone calls you when I go into labor."

"Are you sure you're going to be okay? I mean the baby's going to be here soon," Paul said.

"Go find the woman you love and I'll be okay," Stephanie reassured.

"What if she doesn't want me back?" Paul asked.

"Then pull something out of your ass to win her back," Stephanie said. "She's already forgiven you when most women would have told you to go to hell."

"If you insist that you'll be okay, then I've got someone I need to find," Paul said. He was more excited than he tried to let in on.

"When you get back I'll have all my stuff out," Stephanie said. "Find her and make her see you changed."

"Thanks Steph. If you need anything let me know, and I'll see what you can do," Paul said. "Unless you need a place to say. Then call a hotel."

Stephanie laughed for a moment then went to the guest room to pack the rest of her things.

Paul went to his room to make the travel arrangements he needed. He decided to head for San Antonio tonight, if possible, and if he had to could look other places after Raw tomorrow night. He would hopefully see her there if nothing else.

---------------

Michael knew Paul would eventually be around looking for his wife. He wasn't sure what to do about it when he came. He didn't want to send the man to St. Louis, but his gut told him Lorelei wasn't going to do any better there than she had here.

He figured he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

---------------

Lorelei was pretty excited when she got to St. Louis. It was like a brand new start for her, and aside from touring, she'd never gotten the opportunity to go there.

She knew somewhere inside her that Paul would eventually be around to find her, but she didn't think there was anything he could do to make things right. It wasn't like he had only given her a few days to calm down. She left three weeks ago, and he let her.

"Princess, did you get a chance to celebrate your birthday?" Randy asked. He knew that her birthday was a while ago, but he figured it might be worth it.

"No, Paul didn't even take me out to dinner," Lorelei said remembering the hurt she felt that day. Her husband hadn't even said happy birthday.

"Well, it's something we're going to have to fix. Lets go clubbing," Randy said.

"We have an early flight in the morning," Lorelei reminded him.

"Don't worry about it. Let someone else worry about it for once," Randy said. "Go get ready, I'm going to take you out."

Lorelei didn't really complain. She wanted to have the same carefree attitude that Randy had. She let her worries about work and everything go. She wanted to have fun, something she hadn't done in months.

---------------

Paul got off the plane and decided that he was going to see Mike tonight. He knew that it was probably dangerous to his health but he didn't care. He needed to at least see Lorelei. He wasn't going to do anything until Mike told him where she was.

"Hi, is Lorelei here?" Paul asked when Rebecca opened the door.

"I'll let Mike talk to you on this one," Rebecca said before calling him to the door.

Paul was reluctantly invited in before Mike told him that his wife wasn't here. Paul wasn't happy, but he was even less happy when Mike refused to tell him where his wife was saying something like if he loved her than he would do anything to find her even if he didn't help him. Paul had a few other places that he suspected his wife might be, but he didn't tell Mike that.

Paul took a deep breath thanked the man in front of him before going on his way. Paul drove to a hotel and considered going to St. Louis tonight, but decided against it. He would see Lorelei tomorrow on Raw and he could talk to her then.

--------------

Lorelei was having a lot of fun partying with Randy. She'd always turned down the girls invites to go with them. She decided that, that wasn't ever happening again. She knew that she should probably not drink, she remembered what happened with a little champagne, but decided that she needed it.

She wasn't sure how late she and Randy were out. After the first couple drinks she didn't care. She saw Randy drink some too, but not like she had.

She woke up the next morning at Randy's apartment then next morning and had to concentrate on why she was there. She remembered him coming to San Antonio and taking her back, then she remembered Randy taking her out to some local clubs. She didn't remember much after that, but she could only assume that Randy had kept her safe from whatever stupid things she might have done when she was drunk.

She tried to shake the cobwebs out of her head when she realized that she was in Randy's room, and he was no where to be found. She decided that right now she needed some aspirin and something to eat.

When she got up she noticed the time. "Fuck," she mumbled when she saw that there was no way they were going to make their flight.

She went into the living room and found Randy still sleeping on the couch. She couldn't help but to laugh when she saw his tall frame smashed on the couch. "Wake up, we need to find another flight," Lorelei said hoping it was loud enough to wake him up. She wasn't sure she could talk louder without giving herself more of a headache.

"Damn," Randy cursed. He felt like he had been ran over by something. "What did you say?"

"We need another flight," Lorelei repeated before seeing the snow on the ground.

"We can maybe still make it if our flight was delayed let me check," Randy said.

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	28. Chapter 28

Never Say Never

Chapter 28

Paul was distraught. It was late Monday afternoon and he had yet to see Lorelei. He needed to see her, and, not surprisingly, no one would tell him were she was or who she was with. He had to admit he probably wouldn't tell himself if he knew where she was. There was one person who would at least know if she was appearing tonight. Eric Bischoff.

Paul stormed out of Eric's office pissed. Not only had Lorelei's flight been delayed, he still had no idea where she was. He was almost positive that everyone except him knew where she was.

"Paul, chill out. She'll turn up when she's good and ready," Ric said.

"Don't you get it. She told me to find her. She's not coming back until I find her, which at this rate will b never," Paul said. "I have to find her."

"Getting high strung isn't going to help you right now. Think like she would," Ric said. He honestly wasn't sure where the woman was.

She hadn't confided that information to him or Dave, so they wouldn't be put in an awkward situation, since he was still working closely with Paul.

"Then find her. What's the most important thing to you?" Ric asked him.

"Her," Paul said. "Everything else in the world, aside from my baby, can go to hell as long as I have her there with me."

"Then leave, and do anything in your power to find her. She hasn't filed divorce papers yet, so part of her still wants to be found," Ric said

------------

Lorelei was excited to be able to spend all day with Randy and not have to deal with her complicated life at the moment.

"What do you want to do?" Randy asked.

"Do you have any wrestling games?" Lorelei asked remembering the fun that he had with Cameron playing them. She was beginning to get pretty good at them. She could almost beat him, even though he was only five.

"I'm honestly not sure. I don't know what I have anymore," Randy admitted. "That also mean's we'll probably be having mac and cheese for dinner tonight."

"Doesn't bother me, although we might not even have that if you try to cook," Lorelei said.

"That's true," Randy said looking through his video game cabinet. "I found it." He pulled out a wrestling game. It was a little outdated, but he was still on it.

Randy and Lorelei sat for hours playing video games and goofing off. It was probably the most relaxing afternoon that she had in a long time.

------------

Paul was upset. The airport in St. Louis was closed because of an ice storm. He only want to get there to see if she was there. He planned on moving on right away if she wasn't there. He wasn't sure what he would actually do if she wasn't there.

He decided to call Lorelei's cell, but she wasn't answering. That only made him angrier. She was his wife and she was prancing around somewhere with someone, most likely Randy. It seemed like the most logical place she would be right now.

He was also mad at himself considering he let her walk out the door, and, then even stupider yet, he waited for more than three weeks to get her back. It was incredibly stupid, and there were so many things he should have done differently, if he could find a way to turn back time. Unfortunately, no one has found one yet.

He repeatedly tried to see if the St. Louis airport was open, but every time he tired he was informed that all flights in and out were still cancelled. He'd even tried to call Randy, but Randy wasn't answering either. He made the connection in his mind that was unbreakable. There was about a 99.9 chance that Lorelei was with him doing God only knew what.

---------------

Lorelei found that evening that even though Randy was more handy in the kitchen than Paul, it was only because Randy didn't refuse to be in there when she was cooking.

Though dinner almost ended in a food fight it was fun. Randy had t he ability to make her forget about everything that was worrying her or stressing her out.

The last couple days had been the best in a while. "Let's dance," Randy said.

"We don't have any music," Lorelei pointed out. She wasn't sure she wanted to be very close to him right now.

"I can fix that," Randy said hitting the button that turned the radio on. "Now let's dance."

"But the dishes need to be done," Lorelei protested.

"We can do them later," Randy said pulling her into the living room.

She ended up dancing with him, which produced a natural high better than the high the alcohol produced one the previous evening.

When Randy leaned down and kissed her she was pleasantly surprised. She kissed him back for a moment before the alarms rang in her head. She shouldn't be kissing him. She pushed him away gently. "We can't," she said.

"Why not?" Randy asked already knowing the answer.

"Because I'm married. If you haven't forgotten Paul is one of your best friends," Lorelei said.

"Paul isn't coming back," Randy said. "I know this hurts, but it's been over three weeks."

"I know that, but I'm still married to him. That means nothing can go on between us," Lorelei said.

"Then divorce him. You obviously want something to go on because it was the first thing you thought of," Randy told her.

"Randy, marriage is for better or worse. I can't divorce him. My parents went through worse and they managed," Lorelei told him.

"Lorelei, this isn't a matter of pride. You are a smart, beautiful, kind, caring, wonderful woman. You deserve better," Randy said. "He puts everything before you."

"Randy, I can't talk about this right now. I just need some more time," Lorelei said. No one had said anything that nice to her in a long time. Randy was good at saying what she needed to hear when he needed to hear it. It was part of what was luring her to him. He washer knight in shining armor.

"That's the problem. You don't sort through things. What do you actually lose by divorcing Paul?" Randy asked.

"I love him. Part of me will always love him," Lorelei said before thinking about the question. She knew it was going to be her that didn't like the answer to the question.

"You'll loose the doubt, the pain, the mistrust, and the being ignored the second something 'more important' comes along," Randy said. "The past two days you have been happy."

"I was happy because Paul was out of sight and out of mind. Now I'm thinking about him and I'm miserable again," Lorelei said. She knew he was right, but she couldn't admit it yet.

"You can't live the rest of your life like that. Someday this is all going to catch up to you, and you won't have anyone left to help you deal with everything," Randy said.

"Life isn't as easy as you claim, Randy. I love him with all of my being. I gave him everything. If he doesn't come back, I will never get all that back. I will never be the same as before. He was everything I had," Lorelei said.

"You realize you just said everything in past tense. Lorelei, you know he's gone. Why do you keep believing he'll come back?" Randy asked.

"I never said he would come back. I said he was my everything," Lorelei protested. "I don't think he's coming back."

"But the moment he does you'll be right there waiting for him with open arms for him to hurt you again. He's not going to stop," Randy said.

"So what if you're right? I'll still have my heart being ripped apart. That pain is never going to go away," Lorelei told him.

"Never is a long time," Randy said. He knew it was an absolutely crazy idea, but he kissed Lorelei again. He needed to feel her lips against his again.

This time it was Randy who pulled away. He knew that going any further would be out of the question.

"I don't know what to do anymore," Lorelei admitted. "I need some space."

"Fair enough," Randy said. "I know this is going to sound incredibly stupid, but I've wanted to do that for a long time."

Randy watched as Lorelei went into the other room and Randy regretted saying anything. He didn't want to make this any more difficult for her. It was stupid timing.

Randy's phone rang and it was Paul. He decided to answer it for kicks mostly.

"Have you seen Lorelei?" Paul asked.

"Why the fuck would I tell you?" Randy asked.

"Because she's my wife and I love her," Paul answered. "I'm really worried about her."

"Just like you were worried about her when you watched her walk out the door. Just like you worried about her when you slept with that brutal whore," Randy said choosing not to list any more of his discretions.

"Shut it Orton," Paul said. "Have you seen my wife?"

"I'm not going to stop. You're not the one who has repeatedly had to be there after you ripped her heart out. Does it even matter to you that she stood by you, and you put everything in front of her wants and her needs?" Randy asked.

"Lorelei's sleeping in my bed," Randy said. He knew that it was stupid to say something like that. Lorelei would probably kill him for the connotations that the statement held.

Paul didn't have an answer for that so he just hung up

------------

Paul was pissed. He knew that Randy had to have meant that in the most innocent way possible, but he couldn't help but wonder. Randy had been interested in Lorelei for a while. The young man had never told anyone, but it was pretty obvious.

Paul was also pissed he would at least have to wait until tomorrow to get out there and know what was going on. It was eating him alive she was staying with Randy, and he couldn't know exactly what was going on.

Paul spent the evening in the hotel gym working every muscle in his body until he was so exhausted that he could barely move.

-------------

Please review.


	29. Chapter 29

Never Say Never

Chapter29

Randy and Lorelei caught up with the Raw crew on Tuesday. Lorelei was honestly going out of her way to avoid Paul at all costs. She hoped that maybe he had went to St. Louis to find her and not be at the house show. She needed more time to sort out the thoughts that Randy had brought to the front of her mind.

Part of her wanted to file the papers, but the other part wasn't ready to move on. There was also a nagging feeling that she was falling for Randy, but she wasn't sure. She was still married to Paul who was supposed to be one of Randy's best friends. Whatever she chose wasn't she knew that this wasn't going to be something easy.

Unfortunately for her, Paul was going out of his way to find her. She hadn't been in the locker room alone for more than five minutes before there was a knock on the door. She debated not opening it, but the knocking wouldn't go away. She didn't want to open the door, but the knocking was driving her nuts.

"Lorelei, we need to talk," Paul said.

"Why? You weren't interested in talking when I was leaving; you haven't been interested in talking for almost a month," Lorelei said.

"I've spent the last week looking for you," Paul said.

"You must not have been looking very hard," Lorelei said. "All except the all the last three days I've been with Mike."

"Lorelei, I love yo more than anything except my baby," Paul said. "Steph's moved out . She'll be in NYC like she was before."

"_So what_, Paul? Is everything supposed to be okay now?" Lorelei asked. "Because it _isn't_."

"I don't expect everything to be okay right away, but slowly things will settle down," Paul said.

"And then you'll go and do something stupid again. Paul, have you ever thought that maybe we weren't meant to be," Lorelei asked.

"I love you to much for us not to be destined," Paul said. "I would rather die than live without you."

"I'm sure _Stephanie _will be _glad_ to fill my shoes. Paul, I do love you, but what if loving you isn't enough? Relationships also take trust and commitment. I don't trust you and obviously you aren't committed to us."

"That's a load of bullshit. I want us to be more than almost anything in my life," Paul said. "Besides, you said it yourself _you _left."

"I left because I was tired of feeling like an outsider in _my_ own home. I felt like you cared more about Stephanie than you did me," Lorelei told him. "And you proved it."

"I'm sorry that right now her well being effects my child, which is a little girl by the way. If it weren't for her I wouldn't want anything to do with Stephanie," Paul said.

"Good for you, but how is that supposed to make me feel any better? Paul, I can't wait around for the other shoe to drop. Waiting for you to do something stupid, or for Stephanie or your daughter to need you. You'd leave and I'd worry about it more," Lorelei said.

She saw Randy walk into the room and only hoped the two men could hold their tempers. She wouldn't be able to do anything to stop them if they began to fight. "What the hell are you doing here?" Randy asked.

"I wanted to see _my_ wife," Paul said

"The one _I've_ spent three days holding when she was crying. The one you _watched_ walk out the door. Mike had to call _me_ because there was nothing he could do to help her," Randy said. "You've caused her more heartache than anything."

"Randy, please let me talk to him alone for a few minutes," Lorelei requested.

"Fine, if you need anything let me know, and remember what I said," Randy told her.

"Why did you go to him?" Paul asked.

"Your just jealous. If I were with Mike, Jay, or most of my other friends you wouldn't have anything to worry about. Since I was with a man who is good looking and available you are instantly threatened. I think your paranoia is going to be the end of you," Lorelei said.

"So you have been in Orton's bed," Paul accused.

"What the blue hell are you talking about?" Lorelei asked not sure whether or not Randy had something to do with planting that idea in his head.

"You fucked Orton. I don't even know why I fucking tried," Paul said.

"I'm still trying to make sense of the fact that you think Randy and I slept together, though the idea did cross my mind," Lorelei said.

"You mean you weren't sleeping in his bed when I called yesterday?" Paul asked.

"I was, but in a completely innocent way. Randy stayed on the sofa while I stayed in his room since I'm sure you've seen the trashpit he calls an office," Lorelei said. "I can't believe that you of all people would think that I was sleeping with someone else. I'm not some common whore."

"Lorelei, I never said you where a whore. You're putting words in my mouth. I just made an assumption most men in my position would have made," Paul said.

"You were the unfaithful one not me. Paul, you fucked up and now your trying to blame it on me. At first the thought of living without you was mind blowing, but with every word that comes out of your mouth it seems easier and easier," Lorelei said "You didn't have a good reason for me to stay before, and if you do now I'm not sure I want to hear it."

"So the fact that I love you and the fact that you love me doesn't mean anything," Paul said.

"Again, love isn't anything without trust," Lorelei said. "You obviously don't trust me since you automatically thought I was sleeping with Randy, and I can't trust you."

"You promised to stick with me," Paul said.

"And you promised to be faithful to me, but that didn't happen," Lorelei said. "Stephanie's giving you your first child. Nothing I can do will compare to that."

"Lorelei, just loving me is more than Stephanie ever gave me," Paul said.

"Stop, I don't even want to think about what your going to say next because you won't even be able to prove the eloquent, beautiful words that will undoubtedly come out. Your talk is cheap," Lorelei said.

"And your talk is so much more," Paul said. "When you gave me another chance it was like the sun was shining down on me. I finally thought someone was looking over me."

"I'm not the one on trial here, but when you broke my heart again I felt the exact opposite. I felt like everything was falling down around me and there was not a damned thing I can do about it. I felt like there was nothing going for me," Lorelei said. "You were the person I revolved around. I would have done anything humanly possible to make you happy, and you rip my heart out. You fooled me twice. I won't let you fool me again."

"What do I have to do to prove you're my everything?" Paul asked.

"You can't. I can't let you do it again. You have to leave," Lorelei said.

"No you don't. You want me to pull something absolutely amazing out of my ass so that you can come back," Paul said.

"Paul, leave. I want you to stay away from me," Lorelei said.

"And if I don't?" Paul asked.

"I'll have to ask Randy or Dave to make you leave me alone," Lorelei said. "I don't want anyone to get hurt, but you need to respect my wishes."

"Fine, but I can promise I'll be back," Paul said leaving the room.

Lorelei couldn't hold it back anymore. She started crying. She wished she didn't have to be so strong right now. She honestly wished Paul would hold, but she wasn't going to put herself on the line again. No matter how hard she tried she'd never be able to change him so she should just give that hope up.

She didn't know how long she was crying, but at some point she felt Randy's arms wrap around her and hold her until she stopped. She felt strangely comfortable.

"You planted the idea of us sleeping together in his head," Lorelei said.

"Sorry, he was pissing me off. Yesterday I wasn't thinking before I said anything," Randy said. "And we did almost sleep together when we were drunk the other night, but your stomach had perfect timing."

"I almost remember that," Lorelei said. "It's really fuzzy. Thank you for listening and holding me while I was crying again. Any woman would be lucky to have a man like you."

"There's only one woman I want, but I'm willing to wait for her," Randy said.

"I'm not sure I'll ever be able to put this in the past," Lorelei said.

"Honey, it's all about baby steps. Today you refused to melt like putty in his hands. Tomorrow who knows. Eventually you'll be ready to close this chapter of your life and begin a new one," Randy said. "Your heart will eventually stop hurting and you'll stop thinking about him constantly. All good things take time."

"You shouldn't waste your time on me. I'm not worth loving. I'll only make you do stupid things," Lorelei said. "I don't deserve anything like you."

"That's where you're wrong, but you've got a few people who want to see you," Randy said.

"I know. I knew Ric and Dave would want to see me sometime," Lorelei said.

It was easier to play hostess this time they were in her locker room rather that the last. For whatever reason something was calming her down and she thought it might be Randy.


	30. Chapter 30

1Never Say Never

Chapter 30

Lorelei was thrilled that she was returning to St. Louis. She had made Randy promise to take her to a lot of places. She knew that this wasn't going to sit well with Paul, but for the first time ever she didn't really care. She felt like she was gaining her own life. She needed to have a life of her own just to prove she could.

In the plan for her new life she ignored the fact that she would be living in Randy's guest room/office for a while. She was finally making friends, and hopefully some of Randy's friends that she'd never had the opportunity to meet. There were definitely a few she wouldn't mind having the chance to meet.

Professionally things were looking up. For the moment she was on her own, though she knew that she would eventually be paired with someone. She got to bitch Randy out on national TV for being with Stacy Keibler, and now the two females were going to have an onscreen feud. She wasn't thrilled with the storyline, especially the part where Stacy was going to help her lose her woman's title. She just hated that she was going to have to lose it this way.

Randy was doing some grocery shopping. She knew for normal people that would take about 45 minutes to an hour, but not for him. Everyone would recognize him and it would take hours. She had declined on going with him. She was trying to make his apartment look like someone was actually taking care of it. She had only been instructed to wait for him to return before she started the office. There were a thousand other things that she could do though.

It took him two and a half hours, but Randy finally returned with the groceries and few random things that she had requested. And, he wasn't to much worse for wear. "Here's some chocolate," he said throwing her the Hershey bar he purchased for her. He carried the rest of the groceries up before helping her put things away.

"Randy, we need to get that office cleaned out. You can't keep sleeping on the couch," Lorelei said. She had been willing to stay on the couch, but he'd insisted that she sleep on a bed. It was his stupid pride.

"I know we'll work on it first thing in the morning. I've almost go another concussion thinking about it," Randy said. He knew he shouldn't be making jokes about the number of concussions he's had recently, but he couldn't help it.

"Shut it, I'm gonna finish up the kitchen and start making some food," Lorelei said. "Anything particular that you want?"

"Whatever you want to make," Randy said. He had already turned the TV on and was in the process of turning it to sports center.

"You're just all sorts of helpful. Let me know if anyone comes over," Lorelei said knowing she would at least hear the door open if someone arrived. She just wanted to be properly introduced to anyone.

"I know," Randy said.

Lorelei had been working in the kitchen for a little while when she heard the apartment door open. She didn't bother to come out and see who it was. She assumed if it was anyone more than Ric or Dave Randy would let her know.

-

Paul was pissed. He hated the fact that Randy was the one that was catering to Lorelei's ever whim no him. He knew that it was his fault, but he had tried to make things better between the two of them. He was going to do the same thing again. He knocked on Randy's door. He knew that she was there.

He wasn't thrilled when Randy opened the door. He was hoping he would get Lorelei answer so he could at least get a word in edgewise. "Is Lorelei here?"

"She doesn't want to talk to you," Randy said. "Please remove yourself from my doorstep."

"She's just toying with you like she did Irvine months ago," Paul said. "She'll figure out it's me she wants and then she'll leave you in the dust."

"I guess I'll have to take that risk, but I wouldn't bet too highly on her coming back to you. Don't you get it, Paul; she's had it with you. She's done with your games and manipulation," Randy said.

"I'm her husband. She obviously loves me since it's me she's legally married to me not you. She hasn't done anything to even begin to end that," Paul said.

"But, she will. She just hasn't convinced herself she's ready to put this part of her life behind her," Randy said.

"She won't. She loves me. Unfortunately, for you that love will eventually rebuild everything, and you'll just be an after thought for her," Paul said.

"Look, I asked you to leave my place of residence so just go. I don't know how much more specific I have to be. You're not welcome around here," Randy said. "If you don't then I will have to make you leave."

"You can't make me do anything, Orton," Paul said. "I thought you were my friend, but now you're after my wife. I guess I better start picking my friends better."

"And I thought that you were man enough to keep a real woman like Lorelei, but obviously you weren't," Randy said. "I refuse to let someone I care so deeply about repeatedly get their heart ripped out by some lowlife, manipulative, bastard like you. Now leave."

"I won't leave until I get to talk to my wife," Paul said shoving Randy out of the way. He didn't get far into the apartment before Randy retaliated.

-

Lorelei heard Paul and decided to let Randy take care of this. She didn't feel like facing Paul right now. Putting up with his bullshit was last on her list of things to do. She didn't care to face either of them in the mood she knew they'd be in after this confrontation, but when she heard a loud crash she knew she had to.

She went toward the entrance of the apartment and saw Randy and Paul fighting. She knew that she had to do something before they seriously hurt each other. She didn't want either of them getting in trouble on her account. She also didn't want Randy to get hurt again. She just wanted Paul to leave so she didn't have to hear any more of the cleverly disguised bull shit that he kept spewing.

"Randall Keith Orton, Paul Michael Levesque, stop it this instant," she said trying to get between the two of them. She knew that, that was the only hope she had of breaking them up on her own.

She managed to get between the two men only to get unceremoniously pushed out of the way again. She wanted to nail Paul for that one herself, but she knew it would only make the situation worse. "If you two don't knock it off I'll call the cops," Lorelei said. She figured she might end up having to anyway.

Randy reluctantly hit Paul one last time before he got off. "Now, please leave," Randy said ignoring the blood that was getting in his mouth.

Thank God Paul didn't have a remark to follow, because Lorelei was about ready to smack him. Paul just left with another threat that he would be back.

"You shouldn't have gotten into a fight with him especially over me," Lorelei said. She knew that it was about her in the end though she was almost sure that neither of them would admit it.

"It wasn't you he deserved it," Randy said. "He needed to be knocked down a notch or to so that his ego could let him breathe."

"Has anyone told you, you suck at lying?" Lorelei asked. "C'mon lets get you cleaned up."

Lorelei tended to his wounds and he was honestly rather comfortable. He had never liked anyone taking care of him like his before, even his mother. His mother had always tried to help him after rough events or fights, but he hated it. Now having Lorelei dote of him like this was kind of comforting.

"You shouldn't ever fight anyone. I'm sure your dad told you that fighting couldn't solve all your problems," Lorelei said.

"Actually, my dad said if he hits you first then you better make the fight worth getting suspended for," Randy said. "My dad was a professional wrestler, remember."

"Just don't fight with him anymore. He's not worth it. He could press charges now if he wanted to, and Paul's just vindictive like that."

"Then I'll call my dad and he'll come bail me out and it'll be the end of it," Randy said. "Fighting isn't a major crime."

"Whatever," Lorelei said. "There now other than a black eye and a sore lip you should be good for a while."


	31. Chapter 31

A/N: Hey look it's more of the story. I think we're nearing the end of this lovely tale.

Never Say Never

Chapter 31

Lorelei sighed. She didn't even think as she signed on the dotted line. She wanted to end the farse of a marriage. She knew this was necessary to move on with her life. Anything else wasn't an option for her.

This was definitely the hardest decision she had ever made in her entire life. She still loved him, but the relationship wasn't healthy for either of them. If she didn't do this one or both of them was going to self destruct.

She could only imagine Paul's reaction when he received the papers. He was going to be absolutely livid. She was glad there was so much distance between them.

* * *

Paul had yet to find something absolutely amazing that would begin to make the things he had done right. The only thing right now he was happy about was that he hadn't received any divorce papers. It kept him going and kept him from losing all sanity.

He checked his mail saying a silent prayer that the divorce papers wouldn't come. Unfortunately, today he found the one thing he'd been dreading.

He was beyond angry that she had done this. He was more angry at Randy though. He was the one who had pushed her to this. He was the one who ultimately helped her make this decision and actually file the papers.

He read through the papers and realized how lucky he would make out if he signed the papers. Lorelei only wanted what she had rightfully earned from her contract wit the WWE. He was getting away easier than he had with Stephanie. The last sheet of paper in the envelope was covered with Lorelei's handwriting.

_Paul,_

_Denying I love you would be lying. I do still love you, but I can't keep doing this. We don't trust each other anymore, and that is only stressing both of us out._

_Please don't fight this. I only want to close this and move on to where ever life might take both of us. If you love me you'll give me at least that._

_I hope you and your little girl find happiness. Despite their flaws, everyone deserves happiness. I also hope that in time you find some sense of peace._

_Always_

_Lorelei_

He wasn't sure what to thing about the letter. Part of him wanted to fight this, the other part of him wanted Lorelei to be happy. This was the first time in a long time part of him was willing to put someone else's wants in front of his own. It was scaring him.

He decided to put the papers aside for the moment so he could relieve the desire to hurt something. He'd have to settle for working out instead of beating the hell out of Randy like he wanted to.

* * *

It had been weeks since Lorelei sent Paul the papers; she was beginning to get anxious. She didn't know how much longer she could deal with the waiting game that Paul was playing.

"Whatcha thinking about?" Randy asked.

"How much longer I can deal with the waiting game Paul is playing," Lorelei said.

"He just wants to see how long your willing to give for this," Randy said. He knew first hand the game the man played in and out of the ring.

"I just want to get this over with. I can't deal with all this dram anymore," Lorelei told him.

"It'll all be over eventually," Randy said. "Just remember all good things take time."

"I know, but right now that's not a lot of comfort. I just want to start a new phase of my life. I want to see what the future holds," Lorelei told him. She wasn't exactly sure a better way to put that into words.

"Once he knows you're serious he'll figure out away to get everything he possibly can from this and sign the papers," Randy said. "He has to make himself look like the victim."

"No one is the victim in this stupid situation. Paul screwed up majorly twice and I let him fool me twice," Lorelei said. "All I want is the money from my contract. He can have everything that he worked for before we got together."

"He knows that he's just making it worth the effort. He wants you to work for every penny you get out of the divorce," Randy reminded her.

"He's probably blaming you for everything I've done recently. Heaven forbid I make my own decisions with my won logic and moral system," Lorelei said.

"That, my dear, will be his ultimate downfall," Randy said. "He's always underestimated you. He doesn't believe you'll stick to your guns."

"I know. He thinks that I'm supposedly helpless. In his mind I would never be able to make any decision that requires the least bit of common sense or will power," Lorelei said. She didn't know why she did it as he had seen Stephanie, Stacy, and Jackie at the receiving end of her wrath.

"Don't worry about it. It doesn't matter that he doesn't see the same woman that I see," Randy told her.


	32. Chapter 32

A/N: Fair warning this is the second to last chapter of this story. The final chapter is already written and will be posted hopefully by the end of the week.

Never Say Never

Chapter 32

Lorelei knew she had to confront Paul today. It was now or she wouldn't have the nerve to do it for a while.

She knew the arena, in this case their place of business, wasn't ideal, but this was the only neutral territory they could both get to.

"You know you don't have to go this alone," Dave said.

"Dave, I can't always have your or Randy protect me. Some things you just have to do on your own. You understand," Lorelei told him.

"What's up with you and Randy anyway?" Dave asked. He hadn't got an answer from the man in question.

"We're good friends," Lorelei said in a tone Dave knew to mean there was room for the relationship to grow.

"Be careful," Dave advised both on the impending meeting with Paul and whatever future she and Randy might have.

"Will do," Lorelei said. "I'm gonna find Paul. This might take a while so don't worry about me."

She set off in search of her hopefully soon to be ex-husband. She felt bad their relationship deteriorated to this point, but she also knew there was nothing she could do about it.

* * *

Paul knew the only thing Lorelei asked from him was that this go through without a hitch on his part, but he couldn't. If she still loved him he had to keep fighting for the currently failing relationship.

He knew it wouldn't be to long before Lorelei came to find him and ask why he hadn't just signed the papers and been done with it.

It didn't surprise him when it didn't take her long to find him.

"Why can't you just sign the papers?" she demanded the moment she saw him.

"Lorelei, lets take this somewhere more private," Paul suggested. He didn't want everyone to hear the argument that he was sure would ensue.

Lorelei followed him to his locker room. He was sure it was reluctant on her part.

"I haven't signed the papers because I still love you and you still love me," Paul said.

"There is a difference between being in love with someone and loving someone," Lorelei pointed out. "I will always love you, but right now I want to throttle you every time I see you."

"What if the feeling is different in a few months when things calm down and we reach whatever the new normal is?" Paul asked.

"Then we can start over and have a normal, or closer to it anyway, relationship," Lorelei said. "Right now the relationship we have isn't healthy for either of us."

"But relationships evolve and ours could grow out of this phase," Paul said.

"How is our relationship going to evolve when I can't even look at you without fighting the urge to strangle you," Lorelei demanded. She hated telling him this, but it was time.

"Don't you think divorce is a little extreme?" Paul asked knowing she would practically lash out at him for saying that.

"Paul, we're not the same people we were when we got married. You just what to make yourself look good by trying to salvage some sort of relationship. Let me tell you something: your heart isn't the one on the line right now; mine is," Lorelei said trying to contain her temper. She wanted to prove that she could calmly and rationally talk about this like an adult.

"Oh and your telling me your gallivanting with Irvine and Orton was completely innocent?" Paul demanded.

"I didn't do any thing compared to what you did to me. You slept with Stephanie just because you were pissed at me for taking care of one of my best friends," Lorelei said.

"And you didn't date Chris because you wanted to make me jealous?" Paul asked.

"I dated Chris because he made me feel good about myself. He didn't treat me differently because the relationship you and I used to have.

"What about Orton?" Paul demanded.

"He saved me from myself the way you should have. If you would have listened or been more compassionate and listened to my view on things I wouldn't have left to begin with. I was prepared to be with you through the long haul until you decided to not find me," Lorelei said unsure of why she was telling him this when she only came to see what was preventing him from signing the papers.

"What if I'm not ready to sign those papers yet?" Paul asked.

"Why are you being a selfish bastard? The only thing I've ever asked of you was to sign those papers," Lorelei told him. "Is that to much to ask for?"

"I'm not ready to give up on us," Paul simply stated. He knew she wasn't going to like it but he had to tell her.

"Relationships are give and take, Paul. All you have done so far is take, and now you have only proved that you are physically incapable of giving anyone anything," Lorelei told him. "You can either sign the papers or we can go to court. I don't want to do that, Paul, but I need to spread my wings and fly solo for a while."

"Which is exactly why your staying with Orton," Paul said smugly.

"Whatever, Paul, I'm done," Lorelei said. She couldn't talk to him right now without hitting him.

* * *

Lorelei returned to Randy and Dave's dressing room to let them know she was alright.

"I take it things aren't going well?" Randy commented when the woman hit a locker door.

"Paul pretty much refused to sign the papers no matter what," Lorelei told him hitting the locker again. "If I don't get the papers soon I'm going to go through with a contested divorce."

"Hold up. Paul wanted to see how serious you were about this. He knows your as serious as a heart attack so he'll sign," Randy said.

"Everyone says that, but what if he doesn't?" Lorelei demanded emotionally.

"Then you can begin the expensive lengthy process for a contested divorce," Randy said not wanting the woman in front of him to get carried away like she tended to do.

"His exact words were 'I'm not ready to give up on us'. Doesn't that sound like a problem in getting an uncontested divorce?"

"How do you know he wasn't lying?" Randy asked.

"The same way you knew he wasn't lying when he promised to take the title away from you," Lorelei said. "There are two things he's willing to sell his soul to the devil for: our marriage, and that damned piece of gold."

Randy knew he had a point. Paul cared about very few things, but the few he did he would literally die for. With Paul everything was all or nothing.

* * *

Paul couldn't help but to think what Lorelei had said was right. If he had been more level headed he would have seen right through Stephanie's attempt to seduce him and at some point it would have been Lorelei carrying his baby. 


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Lorelei couldn't believe that today she and Paul were going to appear in front of a judge to finalized the divorce. Randy had been right; Paul had given in. She wasn't sure why he had given in, or if he was actually going to stay gone. She was just happy to be no longer legally bound to him.

She actually doubted that he would stay gone. He would probably always be at least trying. He never did know when to give up. She usually admired that quality in him, but right now it was getting really old really fast. She knew it wouldn't change at least for the next several months.

* * *

Paul knew he should have never signed those papers, but it was the only chance he had right now. They needed a fresh start, and hopefully they would be able to have this after the divorce was finalized and she had some time to calm down. 

He figured Orton would be a problem for a while. He was pretty sure that after a little while though, the younger man would lose interest in her undivided attention. He was just like that.

Paul knew he would have to give Lorelei a little while to heal before he could try to be a part of her life again. She wouldn't be receptive to him before then.

Today was the day he claimed he didn't want anything to do with his wife. He found it kind of ironic that at first he didn't want to care deeply about the woman. Now she meant more than anything in the world to him. It was all coming full circle.

He went through the motions of not contesting the divorce and plastered a look of indifference on his face. If he could make it through today he could make it through anything. He couldn't imagine going through anything more difficult than today's events.

He watched as the judge did his part in finalizing the divorce. Lorelei got the little bit she asked for. He saw the judge look at her like she was absolutely crazy though. It only took a matter of moments for everything to be legal.

* * *

Lorelei got ready to return to St. Louis feeling like a 100 pound weight had been removed from her. She felt more free than she probably ever had in her entire life. She had no one who could even attempt to claim they controlled her. 

She felt like a bird that had been let out of it's cage for the first time. She was finally able to make her own decisions and do whatever she felt like doing whether others agreed or not. She would be able to be seen with whoever she wanted whenever she wanted. She thought about calling Chris and seeing if he wanted to celebrate but decided against it. She had already led him on once; she didn't want to do it again.

She decided when she got back, her and Randy would got to a bar and have a few rounds. It would be fun.

She saw Paul when she left the courthouse and he told her something she would never forget. He told her that he hadn't given up on them just yet. He never would.

* * *

That's the end. I haven't decided yet if there will be a sequel or not. 


End file.
